Out of the 334 kilometers of track being worked on by the Mahakali Corridor Planning Office from Brahmadev to Tusarpani in Darchula, only 49.5 kilometers remain to be opened.
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It has been a decade and a half since the construction of the Mahakali Corridor, which connects Brahmadev in Kanchanpur to Tinkar in Darchula, began. But even the work of opening the track has not been completed yet.
According to the Mahakali Corridor Planning Office, out of the 334 kilometers from Brahmadev to Tusarpani in Darchula, 49.5 kilometers of track are yet to be opened. 26.6 kilometers in Dadeldhura, 5.1 in Baitadi, and 17.8 kilometers in Darchula are yet to be opened.
The Nepal Army is constructing a 334-kilometer road from Brahmadev to Tusarpani in Darchula under the plan and a 79-kilometer road from Tusarpani to Tinkar. The area where the plan is working includes 11 kilometers in Kanchanpur, 58 kilometers in Dadeldhura, 144 kilometers in Baitadi, and 121 kilometers in Darchula.
This road, which is always on the election agenda, has always been facing a budget shortage. Even now, due to the lack of budget, work other than the sequential contract has not been able to proceed. In this regard, since the transfer of the project chief last Bhadra, there has been a problem in getting the work done due to non-payment. ‘Even the salary of Asojayata has not been paid,’ said Ramchandra Jaishi, the acting head of the project, ‘Even the payment of various contracts has not been made.’ According to him, the department has given the responsibility of the task, but has not given financial authority.
Currently, work is being done to open tracks and upgrade and blacktop them. But due to budget shortage and problems with payment, the construction work has been affected. According to Jaishi, 8.5 kilometers of road from Ringnetal to Chillegada in Darchula and 10 kilometers from Chillegada to Dhaulakot are being upgraded and blacktopped.
Similarly, 12.3 kilometers of road from Saleti to Bet are being upgraded and blacktopped. ‘Currently, work is being done on multi-year contracts at various locations to open, upgrade and blacktop the track,’ Jaishi said, ‘Due to budget shortage, new contracts have not been awarded.’ According to him, a budget of Rs 229.7 million has been received for the project in the current fiscal year. More than Rs 1.5 million has been paid in the same year, while the construction has not been paid after Bhadra.
Work on the Mahakali Corridor project began in the fiscal year 2065/066. Before that, the road connecting Khalanga to Tinkar was under construction under the name of Darchula-Tinkar road. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 18.16 billion. So far, Rs 3.68 billion has been spent. The liability of the currently operating contracts is Rs 1.39 billion.
During every election, the Mahakali Corridor has become the main election agenda of all political parties and leaders. Recently, the leaders working on the corridor have been raising slogans to connect it to China through Tinker, a dry port to be built in Dodhara Chandni in Kanchanpur. But looking at the budget, it does not seem that the plan will be completed for another decade in the current situation.
Under the plan, about 10 kilometers of road have also been blacktopped in some places. Some road sections connect to the Mahakali route. But the locals are disappointed that the track has not been opened for a decade and a half since the work began. The work on opening the track was delayed for some time due to the tree cutting order, but then the work has been delayed due to budget shortage.
