Mid-Hill Highway faces roadblocks in Panchthar

By Radha Luintel,Phidim, Sept. 26: The Mid-Hill Highway has encountered a problem at its starting point in Panchthar. Due to negligence by the construction contractors, the section of the highway spanning 51 kilometres from Tharpud to Chiwabhanjyang in Panchthar has been left incomplete.

The responsibility of blacktopping the road was entrusted to three different construction firms—Roshan Shiva Shakti JV and Santoshi Shiv Shakti JV. But due to nonpayment of the dues, 150 workers left the site in June of the previous year. The negligence of the contractors has resulted in the delay of work at the very beginning of this national pride road project.

So far, only 27 per cent of the work in the first section, 14 per cent in the second section, and 49 per cent in the third section has been completed. As per the agreement with the contractors, the work was to be completed by 2021. 

However, the government has extended the deadline three times due to the delay, with the third extension set to end this November.

The second section of the road, contracted to Santoshi Shiv Shakti JV, is in particularly poor condition. According to Nara Bahadur Gurung, a ward member of Yangwarak-1, there is a very low possibility of vehicles being able to pass in the rainy season in both the first and third section as well.

Gurung, who has been continuously monitoring the road’s construction, also mentioned that the contractors still owe nearly Rs. 10 million in wages to the workers. Despite repeated commitments to accelerate progress, contractor Surendra Pathak has failed to deploy the necessary tools, equipment, machinery, and manpower, according to the Mid-Hill Highway Project Office in Phidim.

Dipendra Pandey, chief of the Office, confirmed that the work to connect Darimba in Yangwarak-4 with Chiwabhanjyang at the Sikkim border is behind schedule due to the repeated failures of the contractors to meet deadlines. The project was contracted for Rs. 1.25 billion in January 2020, with the expectation that it would be completed in two years, but after six years, very little progress has been made.

Further complicating the issue, several culverts and bridges on the road, including the Oyam, Osam, and Phalam Khola, were washed away last year, leaving the road impassable during the rainy season. 

According to driver Jiten Subba, what used to take just two hours to cover from Tharpu to Chyangthapu now takes a whole day.

Local residents of Yangwarak-1, 2, and 3 in Panchthar and Sidhingwa Village in Taplejung are facing hardships due to the damaged road. There are growing concerns about the difficulty of transporting food and daily necessities.

Although there were discussions at the ministerial level about terminating the contract, this has not resulted in any concrete action. Despite the government's repeated extensions, the road remains in a deplorable state.

The total length of the Mid-Hill Highway from Chiwabhanjyang in the east of the country to Jhulaghat in the west is 1,879 km, of which 114 km is in Panchthar. Work on the Tamor River to Darimba section has been completed, but the Darimba-Chiwabhanjyang section remains significantly behind schedule.

Yangwarak's village head, Bhim Bahadur Yongya, criticised the government for giving repeated extensions without addressing the root cause of the delay. "If the work had been prioritised, construction should have started from Darimba, but instead, the contractors started from Chiwabhanjyang, and there's been no progress since. Workers and equipment have not been deployed, and instead of taking action against non-performing companies, the government has repeatedly rewarded them with more extensions," said Yongya.

Contractor Surendra Pathak, however, cited reasons such as the COVID-19 pandemic, border blockade, and strikes as causes for the slow pace of work.