Projects including Tinpaini-Pushpalal Chowk road, a sewage and drainage system, a railway, a four-lane road from Jogbani to Dharan, and integrated check posts (ICP), among others, have been left uncompleted owing to various bandas and the ongoing Indian blockade.
Many roadside buildings have been demolished for a road expansion project. But delay in project completion has given the city an ugly look.
Although it has already been over 100 years since Biratnagar was declared the district headquarters, the slow pace of development means the city has lagged behind many newer municipalities.
Biratnagar has not had a single successfully completed project since 1997. Government officials have stated that lack of budget, negligence by contractors, frequent bandas and the ongoing blockade imposed by India have led to this dismal situation.
They stressed that lack of the required budget amount has been the problem most of the time. A budget of Rs 1.3 billion is required for the construction of a 43 kilometer ring road under an integrated action plan (IAP), . However, the government has allocated only Rs 595,000 this year.
Likewise, the city environment improvement project, budgeted at Rs 2.43 billion, has come to a halt since the catastrophic earthquake of April 25. The project, which is funded by the Asian Development Bank, aims to improve the drainage and sewage system in Biratnagar. Although it was started two years ago, the work has not been even half-completed.
The project includes a 25-kilometer main drainage system, 35-kilometer sub-drainage, a 16-kilometer main pipeline for water extraction, and an 8-kilometer sub-pipeline.
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