Pappu Construction, which is notorious for carrying out substandard works and leaving most of its projects in limbo, has sold the contract of building 18 km road section of the Postal Highway for more than Rs 5 million.

It has been revealed that Pappu has sold the contract of Murtiha-Belawa highway section to Ganapati Nirman Sewa for Rs 5.63 million.

In an interaction programme organised by District Administration Office in Bardiya on Thursday, Krishnanath Ojha, chief of Postal Highway Project, said that Ganapati was working on Murtiha-Belawa section.

“We don’t know Ganapati Nirman Sewa officially, though all the construction works are being monitored by the firm,” said Ojha, adding that the representatives of Pappu had not been to project site.  

Pappu had agreed to construct the highway section for Rs 253.1 million (excluding VAT). But after one of the bridges that Pappu had built over the Babai River at Jabbighat in Bardiya collapsed on August 13, 2017, there is no environment for the controversial company to work in the district.

Tulasi Bhandari, operator of Ganapati, said they were constructing the highway section after signing a separate agreement with Pappu Construction.

Pappu Construction had agreed to construct the road on June 2016, but it sold the contract to Ganapati on October 2016.  

“It is Ganapati Nirman Sewa that has been constructing the Murtiha-Belawa road,” said Bhandari, adding that around 15 percent of works have been completed. Mayor of Madhuban Municipality Ganesh KC expressed concern over substandard build of the Belawa-Gulariya road.

“We have informed the Postal Highway Project about the matter,” said KC.

Chief District Officer Ram Bahadur Kurumbang vowed to investigate Pappu as well as Ganapati over the contract deal controversy.