TIKAPUR, July 13: The road was black topped around one-and-a-half year ago and that had brought huge respite to the locals as the road was in a great mess. But the respite did not take long to wane. Lots of potholes have started appearing in this newly blacktopped road in Tikapur of Kailali district.
Potholes have surfaced in over a dozen places on the Lamki-Tikapur-Khatraula road. These have made vehicular movement along the road very difficult, especially for small vehicles.
Most of these potholes are in the 14 kilometer stretch of the road between Lami and Tikapur. While locals have been criticizing the insecurity of the concerned authorities for such poor quality of work and the inconvenience that this has caused to them, authorities have turned blind eyes towards the problem.
Tikapur-Khakraula road stretch has a bit better quality compared to other section, according to locals. “Contractor did quality works at the beginning. However, they started neglecting the quality issue later,” Dan Bahadur BK, a local, said adding that Tikapur-Lamki stretch of the road clearly reflects the poor quality of the work the contractor did in completing the project.
This road was constructed as part of the Hulaki Road Project, a project funded by the government of India. Indian contractor company GMR Gawar had constructed 27 kilometer road section of the road from Lamki to Khatraula with a budget of Rs 340 million.
Site-in-charge of GMR Gawar, Binod Kumar said that they were aware of the potholes and informed that they will make the repairs as soon as possible. “During our field observation we noticed some potholes in some parts of the road. As soon as the monsoon subsides, we will repair them,” he said, adding that it was usual to have potholes in the road section due to continuous exposure to water.
The company plans to repair and hand over the road to the government of Nepal in November. After consulting with Rites Limited, the company had reworked four kilometers of road in Tikapur Bazzar area accepting poor road standards. However the company has not shown any signs of reconstructing other section of the road.
The road has been considered as a major commerce link for the Tikapur locals. Local business community was buoyed with its black topping last year as it connected with the East West highway and ensured smooth transportation. However the visible poor quality of the road has dashed off their hopes.
Local communities had worked with the contractors in dealing with locals for removing obstructions in constructing the road by forming a joint coordination committee. Though the committee completed its job of resolving local disputes and pave way for the completion of the road, poor quality of the road has dejected them.
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