Jhugala Bailey bridge inaugurated

By Jeevan Kaila,Bajura, May 6: The Bailey bridge at Jhugala, which was constructed with joint investment from the Karnali provincial government and the Khatyad Rural Municipality of Mugu, was inaugurated on Friday. It was inaugurated by member of the House of Representatives and former Chief Minister of Karnali Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.

Ratan Bahadur Shahi, acting chief administrative officer of Khatyad, informed that the bridge, which connects Bajura, Humla and Mugu and has the capacity to bear a load of 24 tonnes, was built at a cost of Rs. 35.9 million.

The company Jalap-Ravi-Chakra JV was contracted to finish building the 60-metre bridge by July 10, 2023. The initial contracted amount was Rs. 33,500,293.05. The company finished work two months before the deadline but for an increased amount of Rs. 35,958,023.06.

The bridge will now make the crossing between the three districts easier and facilitate trade, said local Dhumadi Pandey. She also hoped that the bridge would increase transportation and allow vehicles to arrive in the rural municipality. She even sang a Deuda song about how happy she was that her children and grandchildren would be able to ride cars – a facility she never got.

Rang Malla, a resident of Himali Rural Municipality of Bajura, said that the bridge would also make it easier to travel to the Rara Lake and boost domestic and international tourism. 

Mangal Bahadur Shahi, minister for Physical Infrastructure of Karnali, said that he had fulfilled the promise he made during last November's elections. However, he said that the Bailey bridge alone would not solve everything and said that the region needed to be connected to the road network too.

He said that he would also seek to get the road to Rara blacktopped.