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Eight years on, Panchkatiya road still awaits completion
The Khalanga-Panchkatiya road section in the district has remained incomplete due to the carelessness of the concerned builder and government authorities.Bhim Bahadur Singh
The Khalanga-Panchkatiya road section in the district has remained incomplete due to the carelessness of the concerned builder and government authorities.
Though the construction works started eight years ago, the 24-kilometre road is not motorable yet. District Development Committee and Division of the Road (DoR), among other agencies, have spent Rs 100 million on the project.
The track of the road section was opened four years ago. Last year, Surya and Sons Construction JV Surkhet received 60 percent amount of the total Rs 30 million budget allocated to upgrade the road. However, the road has not been improved yet.
Locals said they cannot even ride motorcycles on the road. Engineer Jayaram Shrestha said the road construction delayed due to lack of proper monitoring. “The carelessness of technicians and sub-standard works of the contractor are the other reasons behind the delay,” Shrestha said. He said vehicles cannot ply the road smoothly due to narrow turnings and improper grading.
There are a dozen of turnings along the three kilometre road section from Garrangshi to Nauli. Even motorcyclists cannot easily pass the area. Chaurjahari Division Road Office chief Prakash Bhandari said the road design does not meet technical norms. “Politically, we have been pressed to open a track connecting people’s households,” Bhandari said, adding that 18 kilometre section was expanded to 24 kilometres due to the same reason.
DoR officials said they are going to change the design and track of the road. People living in dozens of VDCs in the district have been affected due to the lack of transportation service. The road was built to connect Khalanga, Paink, Byauli Dhunga and Borekot villages with Jumla.