Pappu Construction fails to build bridge, govt breaks contract

Published On: September 16, 2022 02:05 PM NPT By: Nagendra Upadhyaya

SURKHET, Sept 16: The government has been advised to blacklist a construction company which has done nothing about building a bridge over the Bheri River along the Bhurigaun-Telpani road, a short route connecting Karnali with Bardiya, even 10 years after the signing of a contract for the same. The Road Division Office, Surkhet, has terminated the contract and recommended to the government to blacklist the Pappu/Mall JV, which was awarded the contract to build the bridge.

Engineer Tularam Sharma, information officer for the Road Division Office, Surkhet, said that the contract was terminated because the contractor company showed no interest in completing the construction work even after the deadline was extended according to the contract, and the construction work was not moved forward even after repeated requests. In a notice issued by the road office, the government has been asked to blacklist the contractor according to the provisions in the sub-section 7 of the Public Procurement Act, 2063, section 63, 59, and the contract agreement.

Due to the lack of construction of a concrete bridge over the Bheri river at Ranighat, the short road connecting the four wards of Barahtal Rural Municipality and Bardiya has not been put into operation. Because of the bridge, if the short road is not operational, people are forced to come to Surkhet from Bardia via Kohalpur-Babai-Chinchu.

An agreement for the construction of the Ranighat Bridge was signed on 13 July, 2012 between the Road Division Office, Surkhet, and Pappu/Mall JV. The construction company should have completed the construction of the bridge within three years at a cost of Rs 17.605 million. After the contractor showed no interest in building the bridge, the Road Division Office had decided to take back the money provided to the contractor. Against this decision, Pappu filed a writ petition at the Surkhet High Court, making the road office and the Nepalgunj branch of Nepal Bangladesh Bank as defendants.

Pappu/Malla JV had filed a writ in Surkhet High Court on July 29th 2016, not to withdraw the amount received during the contract and not to break the contract.