Land dispute puts constructed bridge out of use

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT,Deukhuri, Apr.2: A bridge connecting Satbariya of Lamahi Municipality-8 and Rajpur Rural Municipality, both in Dang district, have not yet come into operation due to unresolved land dispute even two years after its completion. 

The bridge has not been connected to the road because of a private land lying in the area where the bridge ends. Asani Chaudhary of Lamhi Municipality-8 said that although the 502-m-long concrete bridge was built over Rapti River two years ago, it had not come to operation due to land dispute. He said that the bridge, built by the government at a cost of Rs. 680 million, could not benefit the people.

Laxman Dhakal, representative of Anak Rayamajhi JV, the company that construct the bridge, said that it had already completed the construction of the bridge two years ago and constructed a road on the undisputed land not touching the disputed land. 

The construction, which started in the Fiscal Year 2018/019, was completed in 2020/021. 

The south bank of the river connects a road in Gadhawa-Kalakate. But, 45 metres of land in between the end of the bridge and a road is owned by Ram Bahadur Yadav, a local of Rajpur Rural Municipality-3. 

According to Yadav, he did not agree to let the government use his land for the road since the survey was not carried out properly before the construction of the bridge and now the road had to be passed over his land. 

Even though the local government had taken initiative to solve the land dispute, it has fallen short to resolve the matter.