National
Contractor gets extensions despite construction delays
Despite extreme negligence and delay in the construction of the bridge at Guigadh along the Sanfe-Martadi road section, the contractor has been given extensions time and again.Arjun Shah
Rajendra Construction Services had signed the tender agreement with the Department of Roads for the construction of the bridge at Guigadh, that is expected to ease access to district headquarters Martadi, in the year 2011. However, the construction of the bridge scheduled to be completed by 2012 is now in doldrums despite the deadline being extended thrice.
According to engineer Khagendra Shahi of the sub-division office, Sanfebagar, the estimated expenditure for the construction of the bridge figures at approximately Rs 5.5 million as per the tender agreement. While the company has managed to get an extension to complete construction by mid-February next year, it is yet to start construction work.
The contractor claimed that they had been unable to complete the construction within the scheduled time-frame owing to a variety of reasons. Stating that he had lost his own investment, contractor Bhim Bahadur Saud claimed that the construction for the truss bridge spanning 60 metres had been delayed as the company responsible for manufacturing the truss had closed down.
“However, we will complete the construction by mid-February next year even if we have to bring essential material from another company,” Saud claimed.
In the absence of the bridge at Guigadh, which is located 24 km from Martadi, vehicular transportation has come to a virtual standstill along the dirt road in Bajura district during the rainy season. This is because the transport entrepreneurs operate jeeps and tractors only during the dry season due to the risks of accident in the hilly terrain.
Although locals have requested the leaders of various political parties and lawmakers representing the district to take necessary initiative to discourage the ongoing negligence and delay in the construction of the bridge, it has all fallen on deaf ears.
“We have not been able to understand why the political party leaders are not taking any initiative,” said civil society leader Sher Bahadur Shahi.
Meanwhile, other bridge projects in the district also share a similar fate. An agreement has been reached for the construction of permanent bridges over Kordaligadh, Tipada and Ghattekhola, recently.
However, the construction companies are yet to start construction work on the bridges scheduled to be constructed by mid-July 2015.