PANCHTHAR, August 3: The blacktopping of the national pride project -the Pushpalal (Mid-hill) Highway Chiwabhanjyang-Tharpu section - has become extremely slow. With only six months left before the end of the contract to complete the work with the contractor, the progress has not even reached 10 percent.
The work of paving the 50.64 km road section from Chiwabhanjyang, which is considered the starting point of the highway connecting to Sikkim of India, is becoming uncertain. The contract was awarded for Rs 1.47 billion in three packages.
According to engineer Himal Kafle of the project office of Mid-hill Highway in Fidim, only 10 percent of the first package, three percent of the second package and 10 percent of the third package have been completed.
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As the construction company does not speed up the work, the blacktopping work in this section of the road is becoming uncertain. Residents of this area, who drive their vehicles with difficulty during monsoon, are becoming frustrated after the delay in work. The local residents, who are living in the hope of getting a better road after blacktopping, have lost hopes.
As there is only one contractor for all the three packages, the work of none of the packages has gathered speed. The first package was contracted out to Roshan Shivashakti JV, the second package to Santoshi Shivashakti JV and the third package to Roshan Shivabhakti JV. Despite repeated requests to advance the work, the contractor does not seem to care. Panchthar Chief District Officer Suresh Neupane said that a written instruction has been given to speed up the work by a few months in the presence of contractor company representatives, project heads and public representatives. Neupane says that although written instructions have been given after on-site monitoring, the progress has been very slow due to inaction on various grounds.
On February 1, 2021, a contract was signed to complete the work within two years. With only six months remaining of the deadline, there is not much activity at the project site. “The contractor company was very negligent. It is very hard to drive a car here in the rain. Our hopes have turned into despair.'' Arjun Begha, a local, said, "When will the blacktopping complete in this way? Even after repeatedly drawing the attention of the authorities concerned, nothing happened.”
Chiwabhanjyang is considered the starting point of the Mid-hill Highway. Even India built a road last year till this point. There has been a lot of delay in the paving of this road, which will make the lives of the residents of the northern area of Panchthar and various villages of Taplejung easier. This is also the road to tourist destinations including Timbu Pokhari. There was a contract to complete 40 percent work under the milestone last year. Even if the deadline was extended by six months, the engineer team says that work has not been done.
The foundation stone for the blacktopping work was laid in Changthapu market with much gusto. In the event, Surendra Pathak, director of contractor Shiva Shakti, expressed his commitment to complete the work on time. But even with only six months remaining of the deadline, the progress has not exceeded even 10 percent.
In the contract worth over Rs 1.47 billion, work worth only a little over Rs 97.3 million has been completed so far. The financial progress is only six percent. When there is no work, the budget is frozen.
From Chiwabhanjyang to Changthapu, Falaicha, Oyam, Tharpu is connected. These are rural markets. The highway reached these areas 11 years ago. It has been seen that the delay in paving this section of the highway will also affect the national target. The goal was to complete this road connecting 26 districts of the mid-hills in the fiscal year 2079/80.
