Under the Kaligandaki Corridor of Tri-Country Transport, the lower and upper sections are being worked on in full swing in the current financial year. But due to the lack of budget to pay, the schemes of both sections are under major pressure.

Under the North-South and Commercial Road Expansion Project Directorate under the Roads Department, the project chief Taluk Adda had to go to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Transport after not being able to pay the builders working on the Kaligandaki Corridor Gandakot-Korla crossing.

Although it is a project of national pride, Kalpana Adhikari, head of the Kaligandaki Corridor (Gaindakot-Ramdi-Maldhunga) project, said that due to the lack of budget, the construction industry could not pay the bill for the work. She said that after the construction businessmen who rushed to the district office demanding payment started warning them not to work, they were forced to stay in Kathmandu to demand the budget.

"The amount allocated for the current financial year has ended in the payment of the last financial year," she said, "The liability for payment in the current financial year has become 600 million." Under the Kaligandaki corridor, 1 billion 27 million was allocated for the Gaindakot-Ramdi-Maldhunga road in the current financial year.

She said that this year's budget was over soon as there was a liability of 53 crores from last year. The chief officer of the project said that since the businessman could not be paid for the work, he could not pressure them to finish the work quickly even if there was a contract. This year, apart from 600 million, an additional bill of 10 million will be made. 500 million is yet to be paid to Kalika Construction Pvt Ltd under the corridor. It is certain that the additional bill will be more than 20 million.

Kalika has accelerated the work of 44 km black paper from Harmichour in Gulmi to Balewa in Baglung. Arun Khatri, information officer of the project, said that the bill for the payment of Rs 50 crore has been submitted. "They have completed the work 6 months before the deadline of the contract and have prepared to hand it over," he said, "but there is no budget to pay." Mahesh Subedi, contract manager of Kalika Construction, said that if an additional bill is submitted within a week, 55 crores should be paid immediately. According to him, last year also he got paid this year by working on a loan of 53 crores. "Both bitumen and diesel cannot be borrowed," he said, "so if payment is not received, the work will have to be stopped." Khatri, the information officer of the project, said that Kalika, which has signed a contract worth 3.33 billion, has made 85 percent of the physical progress. Under the Maldhunga-Jomsom-Korla road scheme, there was a budget of 62 crores in the current financial year. According to the information officer of the scheme, Vishnu Chapagai, at least 20 crores is still to be paid even after the budget is over.

"The payment of some bridges as well as the road from Maldhunga to Beni is more," he said, "only 50 million has to be paid for the road from Maldhunga to Beni." But the budget is not even a single penny. 13 km from Maldhunga to Beni is being blacked out. He said that the work being done in Marfa of Mustang and Motorable bridge of Chusang, Beni Bazar of Myagdi, Galeshwar, Tatopani, Jomsom section has to be paid and more bills are yet to come.

From Jomsom in the upper section to Kagbeni in the Korla section, the black paper has become black. Even when it was submitted to ensure the budget for 50 km, no agreement was obtained. Now the contract for 10 km Kagbeni-Chusang has been awarded. Under the

corridor, under the Gaidakot-Ramdi-Maldhunga scheme, the contract work of Ramdi-Ranimahal 17 km road has started this year. Information Officer Khatri said that 150 million has been paid for the contract worth about 85 million, while 50 million is yet to be paid. "The builders have not submitted the bill because it is said that there is a lack of budget," he said, "Now is the time to work, but the work cannot be done completely. The main problem is the lack of budget." As the deadline has not been extended, they have not even submitted the bill. The planning office said that when the bill for that bridge is submitted, an additional 50 million will be required. In the mountain section under the corridor, there is a situation of payment of nearly 50 million.

The Kaligand corridor plan has been divided into two sections. The construction of the Maldhunga section of Nawalparasi from Gandakot to Parbat was started from 066/67. Its distance is 245 km. The second section of the project is Maldhunga-Beni-Jomsom-Korla. The construction of the road from Maldhunga to Korla in Mustang has started from 073/74. Its distance is 222 km.