The construction of a concrete bridge connecting Makwanpur and Sindhuli districts has not been completed yet even though the construction company signed the agreement 10 years ago.
The Swachhand Bhairav Construction Company had signed the agreement with the Dharan-Chatara-Sindhuli-Hetauda road project to erect the bridge by July 13, 2021. Now, the construction has reached the final stage after the extension of deadline for five times.
The bridge—413 meters long and 7.70 meters wide—is being constructed at the cost of Rs 230 million.
Jayaram Lamichhane, Director of the construction company, expressed his commitment to complete all the works by mid-April and hand it over to the government by April 28.
The deadline was extended for the first time till mid-September 2018 after the company could not complete the construction within the given timeframe. The deadline was extended for the second time till mid-May 2020.
The Madan Bhandari Road Project said that the deadline was extended twice after the company failed to hand over the bridge to the government by mid-May 2020. The deadline has been extended till mid-April 2022 for now.
After receiving the contract, the construction company entrusted the Cannon Gautam JV to complete the works .
Lamichhane said that the Swachhand Bhairav Construction Company has been constructing the bridge on its own for the past three years after the owner of the Gautam JV went out of contact.
Saying that the company was negligent in the construction work, the road project had agreed to pay 35 percent in the first phase, 15 percent in the second phase and the remaining 50 percent after the completion of the construction. So far, 80 percent of the amount has been paid to the construction company.
