Seven motorable bridges are being constructed in Bardiya to ease the vehicular movement in various parts of the district.

Construction of bridges in Bhada, Man, Barbardiya, Lathuwa, Ambasa, Kaligaudhi and Surajpur areas of the district will be completed soon, the Department of Roads has assured.

Sunilbabu Panta, chief of the Bridge Project Sector-3 in Nepalgunj, said the bridges in Bhada and Man will be completed within three years. The construction works on a bridge in Lathuwa is at the final stage, he added. “It is being constructed with a budget of Rs 160 million.”

In Daduwa Nala of Barbardiya, a 220-metre-long bridge is being constructed with a budget of Rs 200 million. The project has aimed to complete the construction within mid-April 2019.

Similarly, two bridges are being constructed in Ambasa and Partappur-Kaligaudi areas over Orahi stream. Chief of the Divisional Road Office (DRO) Arjun Bam said both the bridges are 160 meters in length. “The construction works on both the bridges will be completed within Februray 2020,” said Bam.

“Nowadays, people are having problems going to Thakurdwar and Dalla Homestay due to lack of bridge in Orahi. The tourism activities will be enhanced after the construction of the bridges,” said Jit Bahadur Khadka, a local businessman. Besides a 13-km road that connects Ambasa to the BNP headquarters is being upgraded.

Meanwhile, a bridge over the Surya river in Surajpur near the Nepal-India border point has left incomplete due to the contractor’s negligence. The bridge will connect Murtiha, in India with the Nepali territory. The bridge, the contract of which was awarded to BT Shivaram JV in June 2016, is expected to be completed within mid-October 2018. The bridge is being constructed under the Hulaki Road Project.