MYAGDI, Oct 19: Although the contract period for upgrading the Beni-Maldhunga road, which connects the remote districts of Myagdi and Mustang to the national highway, has already ended, only about two-thirds of the physical progress has been completed.
The Kali Gandaki Corridor project, considered the "lifeline" of Gandaki Province, involves blacktopping the road that connects Maldhunga in Kushma Municipality-1 and Wards 3, 4, 7, and 8 of Jaljala Rural Municipality in Parbat, ultimately linking to Beni, the headquarters of Myagdi. The current physical progress of this project stands at 62 percent.
In March 2021, a contract agreement worth Rs 528.6 million was signed between the Beni-Jomsom-Korla Road Project and the Apex-Khadka-Krishna joint venture to widen the 13-kilometer Beni-Maldhunga road to 11 meters and blacktop it using DBSD technology.
Project Chief Dhurba Kumar Jha stated that the deadline for the recently extended contract, as per the 13th amendment of the Public Procurement Act, expired on October 16, 2024.
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“This road project, whose deadline expired in October 2023, received its final extension until mid-October 2024,” he said, adding, “At the end of the contract period, the physical progress stands at only 62 percent.”
Delays in road construction have caused problems for vehicle operation and passenger movement. Locals from Myagdi, Mustang, and Jaljala Rural Municipality of Parbat, as well as tourists and pilgrims, use this road. Prakash Paudel from Beni reported that the narrow road’s potholes, dust, and mud have made travel difficult.
“Due to the poor condition of the Beni-Maldhunga road, vehicles traveling to and from Myagdi and Mustang have been forced to use the longer, winding Maldhunga-Baglung-Beni road, which is over seven kilometers longer,” he said. “The lack of timely road upgrades has resulted in higher transportation costs and fare rates, affecting the general public.”
Under Paudel's leadership, a community-level pressure campaign has been launched to expedite road construction.
The sub-base has been laid for blacktopping over a distance of five kilometers from Maldhunga to Pharse, where road widening, drainage, and wall construction are in the final stages. Approximately one kilometer of drainage and culvert bridges have been constructed at various locations. Hari Bikash GC, the ward chair of Jaljala Rural Municipality-8, stated that the widening of the road and the construction of drainage and walls from Pharse to Lamakhet are progressing slowly.
The sub-contractor Omkareshwar Construction of Apex-Khadka-Krishna cited a shortage of stones, gravel, sand, and rods as the reason for the slow progress since October 2022.
According to the contract agreement, the Supreme Court imposed a ban in June 2021 on extracting riverine materials from the Kali Gandaki River, which are essential for road construction.
The construction contractors have cited several reasons for the slow progress: the lack of relocation of electricity poles on the road, delays in distributing compensation for the demolition of houses within the road's jurisdiction, and a shortage of riverine construction materials.
After the deadline expired, representatives from the construction company visited the work site and committed to accelerating the construction during a discussion at the District Administration Office in Myagdi on Friday, according to Chief District Officer Gurudatta Dhakal. The project has stated that the relocation of electricity poles and the distribution of compensation for house demolition are in the final stages.
Beni Municipality Mayor Surat KC has urged that if riverine materials from the Kali Gandaki cannot be used, they should be sourced from the Myagdi River instead. The Maldhunga-Beni road, which opened under the “Food for Work” program in 1995, was blacktopped in 2011. This road, part of the Kali Gandaki Corridor connecting the Korala border of Mustang to Sunauli in the south, is being upgraded to 11 meters wide and blacktopped.
