An under construction Bailey bridge over Bhotekoshi River at Larcha in Sindhupalchok collapsed on Tuesday.

The bridge linking bordering area Tatopani with the Capital caved in when the construction work had reached its final stage after completing the foundation works on both ends and was scheduled to be handed over to the authority in a few weeks. However, no causality has been reported in the incident.

Bhagwati Construction Company had won the contract to build the bridge and started work from August 2017.

According to Raj Kumar Paudel, Chief at the Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality, the bridge collapsed due to weak foundation and sheer negligence of engineer and contractor.

Bhagwati Construction Company Chief Mukesh Panta said the bridge collapsed after a problem surfaced during the construction.

The bridge collapsed due to imbalance among the pillars though proper safety code was followed in the construction.

Only a week ago, locals had staged a demonstration against the construction work saying that weak walls were built on both sides of the bridge.

Pant said the construction of bridge was delayed to due to lack of budget. The bridge was being constructed with a total cost of Rs 20 million.

The 50-meter Bailey bridge was being constructed in place of 90-meter long bridge that was destroyed in a massive landslide.

Locals said the contractor could not give proper attention in the construction of bridge as he was busy in blacktopping a section of road along the Araniko Highway.