Bridge construction begins after 12-year hiatus

By Our Correspondent

Rautahat, Aug 21 :  Construction work at the Bagmati bridge connecting the Rautahat and Sarlahi districts has resumed after 12 years since the construction was stopped as the river changed its course disturbing the development of the infrastructure. 

The Bagmati bridge connecting the two districts and located in Durgabhagavati Rural Municipality-5 had remained incomplete due to the change in the course of the river to about 800 meters east of the proposed bridge alignment, which is being reconstructed. 

Under the ambitious project of connecting the neighboring districts, Lumbini Builders signed a contract about 12 years ago on 14 June 2010 with a deadline to complete the work within a year. But the change in the course of the river forced the contractor to halt the work. 

When the Directorate of Postal Highway opened the tender for the bridge for the second time, Mahalakshmi Bikas, YP JV won the bidding and started work to complete the bridge. 

The Director of the directorate, Dharmendra Jha, said that the company has started work through the new contract, and the old contract is canceled. 

According to him, the company has signed a contract for Rs. 574 million for the construction of the bridge along with the work on the river control project for 2,241 meters length. The company has signed an agreement to complete the work by 26 October 2024. 

The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. At that time, the builder that won the contract for Rs. 358.9 million sub-contracted it to Pappu Construction. The latter has completed the construction of 17 spans. 

Although there was a long discussion between the construction company and the directorate, there was no agreement to advance the work. It said that the construction period of the bridge has expired, the directorate has not been able to provide the site for a long time, and the price of construction materials has gone up, so they were forced to terminate the contract unilaterally as they could not work at the old price.

In absence of the bridge, people in the area are forced to take up dangerous boat journeys to cross the river.