SAPTARI, July 18: Movement of vehicles at Tilathi-Rampura section of Rajbiraj-Sunauli road stretch in Saptari district has come to a halt after torrential rains destryoed the recently constructed diversion over the Khando River at Tilathhi Village Development Committee (VDC).

Locals of Tilathi VDC have been facing huge problems due to the destruction. It was the only road linking Saptari district headquarters with southern areas of the district.

“We cross the bridge everyday to buy essential goods,” Anjani Kumar Das, a resident of Tilathi -9, said. “But now we have to cross the bridge risking our life.”

Meanwhile, locals complained that the bridge suffered damage because it was left incomplete. The bridge reconstruction has been lingering on for five years, according to them.

“Even a small flood used to block the old bridge,” Kripa Nanda Jha, a local of Tilathi-1, said. “After many requests, they built a diversion, but it has turned out to be of substandard nature.”

Department of Road (DoR) had allocated Rs 51 million for the reconstruction of the bridge. The project was handed to a private contractor in 2014 with the deadline of June 15, 2016.

Dineshwar Mishra, chairman at Village Development Committee (VDC) at Tilathi, blamed DoR official for the delay in works and poor quality of construction. “The problem arose due to the recklessness of the contractors and irregular monitoring by DoR officials,” he said.  

 
• destruction
 
• khando
 
• diversion
 
• affects
 
• transportation