Although the resource consent file for the construction of the new bridge was submitted two years ago, it has been stalled due to the lack of implementation by the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission.
Construction on the Babai River has been stalled due to the lack of resource consent for a new bridge connecting Gulariya and Barbardiya municipalities.
More than 1.5 million residents of this region have been affected by the failure to build a bridge that was washed away by the flood in the Babai River eight years ago. Even though the resource consent file for the construction of a new bridge was submitted two years ago, its implementation has been stalled by the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission.
Narendra Prasad Bhatta, Chief of the Division Road Office, Nepalgunj, said that the resource consent could not be obtained in the last fiscal year and was canceled. 'We have sent it to the Ministry again through the Road Department for resource consent, and work will move forward with the resource consent for the construction of the bridge,' he said. The department is unaware of this matter. Deputy Director Engineer Shyam Bahadur Khadka, Information Officer of the department, said that the Division Road Office, Nepalgunj has been informed about the resource consent file. The file for resource consent in the department has been left behind at the ministry.
The Division Road Office had terminated the contract for the bridge built on the Babai River in Jabdighat, Bardiya, after it collapsed about 5 years before it was handed over. The bridge built by Pappu Construction collapsed on 28th Shrawan 2074. The flood that occurred on 20th Asoj 2079 completely halted traffic.
The bridge, which was started by Pappu Construction Company about 15 years ago at a cost of 166.8 million, was completed in 074 BS. After the bridge was washed away, there has been a traffic disconnection between the district headquarters Gulariya and Barbardiya Municipality for about 8 years. About 150,000 people in this area are forced to suffer due to the lack of a bridge. During the rainy season, people have to take risks and travel by boat.
In winter, people have to pay taxes while traveling by wooden bridge and boat. But the locals complain that the state has neglected the construction of the bridge, and they have had to travel very arduously. Despite many assurances from MPs and ministers who have come here for the construction of the bridge, the locals complain that the construction process has not progressed.
The construction of a 23-km paved road from Rammapur on the East-West Highway to Rajnawa in Gulariya was completed 5 years ago. Durga Bahadur Tharu, former mayor of Barbardiya Municipality, said that two municipalities and 1.5 million residents of this area have been affected due to the lack of a bridge. Sanjay Gautam, a member of the House of Representatives from Bardiya Constituency No. 1, went on a hunger strike for eight days a year ago for the construction of the bridge. Gautam broke his hunger strike after the then Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala gave a written agreement that the tender for the new bridge would be awarded within a month. That agreement has not been implemented yet.
The Division Road Office, Nepalgunj has stated that an estimate has been prepared for the construction of a new bridge 500 meters north of the collapsed bridge at Jabdighat on the Babai River. The Division Office has stated that an estimate has been prepared for the construction of a 400-meter-long bridge at a cost of about Rs 1.19 billion.
