On 31 Jestha, Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal was returning from Dhangadhi. While returning, Minister Lamsal started to understand the status and progress of the road expansion while visiting various sections of the Nagdhunga-Muglin road. He heard complaints from locals about the delay in the construction. 

Receiving information that the work was hampered due to the failure to move the electricity poles on time in the Naubise-Malekhu-Muglin section, he instructed the concerned project chief to bring the contractor and keep him or break his leg if he does not work. His statement was widely criticized. Construction entrepreneurs opposed it. MPs also questioned in Parliament. 

Why is there a delay in moving the electricity poles even when half of the road upgrade and expansion work is completed? Kantipur has found that the work of moving the poles has not been completed even when half of the road work is completed. The Nepal Electricity Authority, which awarded the contract for the road, the contract for the pole relocation, and the contracting agency were found to be responsible for the delay. 

Nepal Electricity Authority spokesperson Rajan Dhakal said that he was not very knowledgeable about this. He requested Nawaraj Ojha, Deputy Executive Director of the Distribution and Customer Service Directorate under the Authority, to understand this issue. On the other hand, Ojha said that there is a procedure for transferring electrical infrastructure and the Authority awards contracts for pole relocation according to that.

‘The contract for pole relocation is done according to the procedure,’ Ojha said, ‘It is just an accusation that the road construction was delayed due to the pole relocation. There has not been a delay in the relocation of poles everywhere.’ He said that there was also a delay in site clearance on the part of the road. ‘The construction business that is expanding and constructing the road has made this allegation to get an extension of the deadline,’ he said, ‘In some places where the Authority has contracted for work, there have also been problems with the contractor.’ 

Ojha says that the work has been delayed because the same company has taken the contract for different highways at once. Balkrishna Karki of Sohan Construction, which has taken the contract for moving electricity poles in many places, said that the delay in moving the poles is due to technical difficulties. ‘There are technical problems in moving electricity poles, there are problems in shorting and cutting the line, only experienced people should work on this,’ he said. 

He claims that the work has not been done even in the places where they have already moved the road poles. ‘In some places, locals scold us when we try to move the poles by cutting the electricity line,’ Karki said, ‘The work is being done as quickly as possible.’ Asked how long it will take to move the poles on the main highway, he said, ‘We will move the poles in the Malekhu-Muglin section in one day, in the Kakadbhitta area in three months if there are no problems, and in Kapilvastu in Butwal-Gorusinghe-Chandrauta within four months.’ 

The work of moving poles is also pending on the Nagdhunga-Muglin road section, which has high traffic volume. The total distance upgraded in this section is 94.66 kilometers. It has been divided into three sections and contracted. The first section, Nagdhunga-Naubise, is 12.26 kilometers, the second section Naubise-Malekhu, is 43.54 km, and the third section Malekhu-Muglin is 38.86 km. The second layer of blacktop on the Nagdhunga-Naubise road section has been completed in 6 km. There is still 6.26 km left. A flyover is under construction on this section and the overall construction progress is 88 percent. The work of moving poles on the Naubise-Malekhu section is not yet completed. 

The contract for this section has been won by ZICG-Sharma-Lama JV for 5.33 billion 19 million. The work on this section, for which a contract was signed on 14 Baisakh 2079, was supposed to be completed by mid-Jeshta 2082, but the deadline has been extended to Asoj 2083.  Keshav Prasad Ojha, head of the eastern section of the Nagdhunga-Muglin Road Project, said that the construction progress is 60 percent so far. He complained that there was a problem due to the non-relocation of electricity poles. ‘A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with the authority in 2079 to remove electricity poles,’ Ojha said, ‘75 poles are yet to be removed.’ Sohan Construction has taken the contract to move the poles from Naubise to Muglin. ‘As the poles were not moved on time, the road blacktop work had to be done only on the available width,’ he said. ‘Construction entrepreneurs have complained that they were not able to work due to the poles not being moved.’ Sajna Adhikari, head of the western section of the Nagdhunga-Muglin Road Project, also claimed that the work was delayed due to the non-relocation of 107 poles.

‘The work has not been able to be done because the poles have not been moved in Muglin and Malekhu Bazaar, there are many poles in Malekhu Bazaar,’ she said, ‘There is also a problem in the Fisling-Chumlingtar section.’ The official said that although it was decided to move the poles within seven days during a discussion held at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development a few days ago, the company that took the contract for it has not arrived yet. The project has stated that Sohan Construction has also taken the work of moving the poles for this section. 

Another road section where poles have not been moved is Kakadbhitta-Laukahi. The distance of the Kakadbhitta-Laukahi road on the East-West Highway under the Asian Highway is 95.76 km. In this section, three packages have been made for the road side and two for the bridge side. The progress is not as expected. One reason for the low progress is the failure to move the electricity poles on time. So far, the overall progress is only 37 percent. The 45 km section from Kakadbhitta to Sitapuri in Jhapa falls under the first package. The contract for which is taken by Ivraskan-Kalika JV. The contract amount for this section is 10.694 billion rupees. The contract for all sections including roads and bridges was signed on 2 Kartik 2080. 

However, the construction order was given on 19 Magh 2080 (2 February 2024). The planning office has stated that the period will be calculated from the date of giving the order. So far, 914 out of 2,422 poles in this section have yet to be moved. Sohan Construction has taken the responsibility of moving the poles. 

The second package includes the expansion of the road from Sitapuri to Gothgaun in Morang. The contract for this has been jointly taken by CRFG-Tundi Company. The distance of the section is 40 km. Out of 1,550 poles to be moved in this section, 1,122 have been moved so far. 428 poles are still to be moved.

The distance of the road from Gothgaun in the third package to Labipur in Sunsari is 10.76 km. The problem in this section too is the electricity poles. Out of 668, only 331 poles have been relocated. The project has stated that 307 poles are yet to be relocated. The contract to relocate the poles in the second and third sections has been awarded to Awan Mahashakti JV.

Project Director of the Project Directorate (ADB) Chudaraj Dhakal said that the progress in the road construction could not be increased as the company that took the contract did not relocate the electricity poles on time. ‘It was not possible to just bury new poles and hang wires, the entire pole at the work site had to be removed, that has not been done,’ he said, ‘The work of relocating the poles has not been completed even as the project is nearing completion. How can the road expansion work be expedited in such a situation?’

The Aanbukhaireni-Jamune and Jamune-Pokhara sections of the Prithvi Highway were divided into two parts and the work on the first section has already been completed. The total distance from Aanbukhaireni to Pokhara is 80.33 km. The contract for the second section, Jamune-Pokhara Seti Bridge, has been taken by Yan Hui Construction. Its distance is 38.88 km. The progress is 81 percent. However, 21 poles are still to be moved in the Jamune-Pokhara section, Dhakal said. 

The work of moving poles is done through the Nepal Electricity Authority. For this, the authority invites tenders from the relevant projects by taking funds. The company that gets the contract moves the wires and poles. Often, problems arise when a single company takes the contract to move poles on the road. Dhakal said that an agreement has been reached with the authority to move the electricity poles in the Narayangadh-Hetauda section, which is being expanded with the ADB's concessional loan. 

Sohan Construction has also taken the contract to move the electricity poles under the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road expansion. After repeated requests, the work of moving the poles is finally being completed, says Bijay Kumar Mahato, head of the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road project. Initially, 454 poles had to be moved in the Suryabinayak-Sanga section and 700 in the Sanga-Dhulikhel section. "Now, only 25 poles are left to be moved in the Suryabinayak-Sanga section," Mahato said. 

One of the reasons for the lack of progress in the construction of the Butwal-Gorusinghe-Chandrauta road is the scattered electricity poles along the road. The contract for the expansion of the Butwal-Gorusinghe road section has been won by Sansi-Girwan JV. Its contract amount is 13.55 billion rupees. The contract for moving the poles has been won by Sohan Construction.