Damak-Chisapani road construction left in limbo

By Bishnu Prasad Pokharel,Damak, June 6: Local road users have expressed their frustration and demanded that the halted construction of the Damak-Chisapani road (proposed Falgunanda Marg), which connects Damak in Jhapa to northern hill districts in Koshi should immediately be resumed. The 32-km road connecting Damak of Jhapa with Chispani of Ilam is taken as an ambitious road project.

Under the leadership of Keharsingh Yonghang, the leader of Mangsebung 3, a committee has been formed to exert pressure on the concerned agencies to resume construction work. 

The committee has decided to organise a large gathering at Marhebung of Mangsebung Rural Municipality-4 to exert pressure on the construction company to complete the work quickly. The attention of the Road Division Office Damak has also been drawn on the issue. 

According to Yonghang, the representatives of the Road Division Office, the fire department, and representatives of the construction company have been called for a written commitment to start the work quickly. The owners of the construction companies have also been criticised for not paying the local labourers. 

The contract to upgrade the road to blacktop level for roughly 25 km was taken up by Lumbini Ganapati JV. It had been mentioned that the contract was signed for the 25 km section of the road in two packages. According to the Road Division Office Damak, even after the deadline had been extended several times, not even half of the total work has been completed. 

According to Santa Bishwakarma, who is also the outgoing ward member of Mangsebung-4, there had been a problem when the workers they had hired, including himself, did not get the wages for the work they had done three years ago.

He said, "I have to get wage amounting to more than Rs. 1 million from the construction companies and we won't work until we are paid." 

According to Binod Kumar Nembang, Vice Chairman of Mangsebung Rural Municipality, the locals had given ultimatum to the construction company which had not paid wages to the workers engaged in road construction, and they are not working. 

Similarly, even though the deadline was repeatedly extended, no work has been done in the first seven kilometres of the road. Mahalakshmi-Kirateshwar JV agreed to pave this route within 30 months on August 14, 2018. It was said that the contract was signed for Rs. 220.5 million. 

Various contracts were signed to upgrade the 7 km road section from the border of Jhapa and Ilam to Merchebung and the 25 km road section from Mangsebung to Chisapani in Ilam. In the month of February 2020, the foundation stone of the road was laid by the then Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli. 

According to Engineer Sudhir Kumar Jha of Road Division Office, Damak, although the work had started after the contract agreements in three packages, it had been found that the construction company had not done satisfactory work. He informed that the work had been carried at snail’s pace. Now they have agreed to work faster, he said.

 Only 26 per cent of the 10 km road in the third package has been finished, compared to 60 per cent of the second package's 15 km and 55 per cent of the first package's 7 km.