Postal Highway Directorate moves to finish 8-year-delayed road project

By Govinda Sharma,Banke, Nov. 4: The Postal Highway Directorate Office has initiated a new process to complete the 1,800-metre four-lane road in Khajura Bazaar, Banke, which has remained incomplete and dilapidated for the past eight years.

According to Lila Bahadur Bhandari, Chief Divisional Engineer at the Postal Highway Directorate Project Office in Nepalgunj, the office has submitted a cost estimate to the directorate for approval in order to call a new tender. 

This move follows demands from local residents, people's representatives, and the rural municipality after it became evident that the previous contractor was unable to complete the work.

Bhandari said that the remaining construction work on the Khajura section would cost around Rs. 100 million. 

He said, “We are working to complete both the 1,800-metre road at Khajura Bazaar in Banke and the 2,200-metre section at Gulariya, the headquarters of Bardiya, through a new process. Once approval is granted, the tender will be called, and the work will be completed within six months.”

As the Postal Highway Project is already carrying out the construction of the Nepalgunj–Gulariya four-lane road, it has also taken steps to complete the unfinished section in between.

According to the Road Division Office, Nepalgunj, an agreement worth Rs. 214.9 million was signed on April 12, 2018, with Gajurmukhi Construction Company Pvt. Ltd. of Ilam for the construction of the 1,800-metre Khajura road in Banke and the 2,200-metre Gulariya road in Bardiya. The project was originally scheduled for completion by March 2021. However, despite several deadline extensions, the work remained incomplete.

After terminating the contract, the contractor filed a case in court. When the court did not issue an interim order, the Postal Highway Project took an interest in resuming the construction in response to local demands.

Lumbini Province Assembly member and Khajura resident Ratna Khatri said that he and other representatives had been continuously lobbying various federal agencies for the completion of the long-delayed road. He assured that all concerned authorities would cooperate and coordinate to ensure the project is completed on time under the new process initiated by the Postal Highway Project. Khajura Rural Municipality Chairperson Dambar Bahadur Bk said the local government had repeatedly drawn attention and even staged protests demanding that the Postal Highway Project take responsibility for completing the road.