Contractors threaten to halt work over payment delays

By Tilachan Pandey,Tamghas,may.1: Contractors working on the Kaligandaki Corridor, a national pride project, have threatened to halt construction if outstanding payments are not cleared. The upgrading and blacktopping works are in progress along the 45-kilometre stretch of the Harmichau--Balewa road section in Gulmi district.

Mahesh Subedi, Project Manager at Kalika Construction, stated that they were yet be paid around Rs. 550 million. He expressed his disappointment that despite working at a rapid pace, the company has not received the payments due from the government. According to him, since bitumen (alkatra) must be imported from India and purchased with cash, the situation has become increasingly difficult. As they primarily have to blacktop the road section, it would be impossible to continue work with the payments pending, he said. 

At the time of reporting, over 90 per cent of the contracted work had already been completed.

Engineer Arun Khatri, Information Officer at the Gaudakot, Ramdi, Maldhunga Road Project Office under the Kaligandaki Corridor, said that the government has not been able to pay the contractors due to delays in receiving the necessary budget from the central authorities. The office has appealed to the contractors not to halt construction, assuring them that a request for budget allocation has been made. 

According to Khatri, blacktopping work on 30 kilometres of the Harmichaur–Balewa section has been completed, while work on the remaining 15 kilometres is currently underway. If work continues at the current pace, the project will be completed by mid-June 2025, as per the contract deadline, he said.

Kalika Construction is responsible for upgrading and blacktopping the 45-kilometre Harmichaur–Balewa section. The entire project is being carried out at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.33 billion, and according to Khatri, more than 85 per cent of the physical work has already been completed. 

The agreement between the project office and the contractor was signed on 11 December, 2022, with a scheduled completion date of 10 December, 2025.

Previously, around four years ago, the Nepali Army had blasted the rocky cliffs along the route to open a track, where blacktopping is now being carried out. On the Ridi–Harmichaur section, blacktopping of a 21-kilometre stretch has been completed and the project is awaiting to hand over the road. Engineer Khatri further informed that this part of the project, carried out by Shyam Sagun JV under a contract signed on 30 August 2020, at a cost of Rs. 623.6 million, is scheduled for completion by mid-July 2024.