According to Naveen Shah, engineer of the Road Department's Bridge Sector, Dharan, the Swachhanda-Rasuwa-Pappu JV signed an agreement on Ashad 30, 2073, to complete the project within three years at a cost of Rs. 216.5 million.
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Construction of the abandoned motorable bridge over the Sunkoshi River at Dhaplanghat has begun. The construction of the abandoned bridge by the Swachhand-Rasuwa-Pappu JV on the Sunkoshi River at Dhaplanghat, located between Suntale, Barahapokhari Rural Municipality-2, Khotang, and Triyuga Municipality-14, Udayapur, has begun.
According to Nabin Shah, engineer of the Road Department's Bridge Sector, Dharan, the Swachhanda-Rasuwa-Pappu JV had signed an agreement on Asad 30, 2073 to complete the project within three years at a cost of Rs 216.5 million. However, after the work stalled, the lead party of the contract, Swachhanda Nirman Company, was blacklisted and the deposit was withdrawn, and Rasuwa Construction Pvt. Ltd., involved in the joint venture, started work from last Mangsir, said Koshi Province Physical Infrastructure Development and Health Minister Bhupendra Rai.
'After taking the contract and stalling it without completing it, we had to struggle a lot to get it started,' Rai said, 'The contractor dug on me using power, and I confiscated the deposit of the construction company that stalled the work without completing it, and the Rasuwa Construction in the same joint venture started work.'
The deadline for the bridge has been extended several times since it expired. According to Shah, the latest extension was to Asad 2082, which was extended until Jestha 20, 2084. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Bhadra 11, 2074. Ramesh Neupane, an associate of Rasuwa Construction Pvt. Ltd., which is involved in the construction, said that only about 45 percent of the work has been completed so far. The financial progress has been only 22 percent.
Neupane said that out of the six pillars to be constructed for the 200-meter-long motorable bridge, four have been completed, but one of them was damaged by the flood, so three pillars remain to be built. In addition, Neupane said that out of the five slabs to be constructed, three will be completed this year and two next year.
