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Postal Highway project in Tarai slows to crawl
The construction of the Postal Highway in the central Tarai has slowed to a crawl. The contractors have shown no interest in working faster to meet the timeline despite the various deadline extensions and warnings issued by the Postal Highway Directorate Janakpur Office.Santosh Singh
The construction of the Postal Highway in the central Tarai has slowed to a crawl. The contractors have shown no interest in working faster to meet the timeline despite the various deadline extensions and warnings issued by the Postal Highway Directorate Janakpur Office.
There has been no progress on the 315-km stretch of the Postal Highway passing through Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha and Sarlahi districts.
The Nepal and Indian governments have funded the project. Nepal is financing a 212 km stretch while the Indian government is paying for a 103 km section. Touted as the lifeline of the Tarai, people living in the region have long been demanding that the highway be completed at the earliest.
The Janakpur-Jaleshwor-Vittamod, Kadam Chowk-Kaptaul-Tinkauria, Nawalpur-Malangwa, and New Road-Barhathawa-Madhubani stretches under the jurisdiction of the Postal Highway Directorate Janakpur have been most affected by slowpoke contractors. Joint venture company Lama-Raman Janakpur had been given 24 months to complete the soil filling works, graveling and black topping of the 25-km Kadam Chowk-Kaptaul-Tinkauria section at Janakpur. However, physical progress was recorded at a meagre 30 percent although 20 months have passed.
The directorate has recently issued a warning notice to the contractor. As per the agreement, the contractor has to black top a 7-metre width of the 25-km section and gravel the 2-metre wide shoulders on either side of the highway by mid-July.
In the last 20 months,, the contractor has completed the soil filling works and gravelled the Kadam Chowk-Kapaleshwor only. Drains and culverts are yet to be completed. Manoj Kumar Mandal, an engineer of the directorate, said they had warned the contractor that the contract could be terminated if work is not speeded up. The government has allocated a Rs279.5 million budget to complete the 12-km Kadam Chowk-Aaurahi section, while the Indian government has provided Rs229.7 million for the 13-km Aaurahi-Saghara section.
The road connects 20 districts in the southern Tarai belt. The national pride project was initiated in the early 1990s. However, it was only in 2004 that Nepal and India signed an agreement to conduct a study to upgrade the road networks linking the Postal Highway. The highway, also known as Hulaki Marga, extends 975 km from east to west. The project also includes an additional 817 km of roads that will connect all Tarai districts.
Likewise, the construction of the Janakpur-Yadukuha and Birendranagar-Yadukuha-Mahinathpur sections of the Postal Highway in Dhanusha, and the Jaleshwor-Hardi and Maisthan-Gausala-Samsi sections in Mahottari, which are being constructed with funding from the Indian government, has been severely delayed. No work has been done on the six bridges that need to be built on the highway.
The contract for the construction of a bridge over the Balan River expired three years ago, while the agreement to construct a bridge over the Kamala River expired two years ago. Engineer Mandal said that work on the roads and bridges under the project had been slowed down by protests by locals citing various reasons. Shortages of construction materials have also resulted in delays, he added.