Delays in the construction of Tamor Bridge

A bridge project over Tamor River to link Panchthar and Terhathum districts has yet to be completed even after 12 years of contract signing.

In the absence of the bridge, the people of Kummayak Rural Municipality in Panchthar have to walk seven to eight hours to reach Myanglung in Terhathum to attend the weekly market.
Villagers usually travel to Myanglung weekly market carrying goods on their backs so that they could sell them. They return home carrying daily supplies, such as salt, oil, soap bars and clothes. It is an arduous journey that many villagers take every Friday  

Ramesh Thapa, who had come to Myanglung to sell almonds from Bijuwapani of Kummayak, said, “We were excited about the bridge project because we would not have to carry heavy loads along steep hill trails. But now we don’t know if the bridge will ever be constructed.”

If one has to reach the city of Dharan, one has no option but to walk all the way to Myanglung and from there cover the distance of 116 kilometers through Basantapur, Sidhuwa, Hile and Dhankuta. Locals say with the bridge in place, Dharan can be reached directly through Tamor corridor, and the travel duration would be cut by half. 

A contract was signed with Swachchhanda Contractor Company in June 2011 for the construction of the bridge at a cost of Rs 130m. As per the agreement, the bridge was to be completed by July 2018. 

Ram Kumar Dev, chief of the Road Division Office, Dhankuta, said only 50 percent of the work has been completed so far. “Out of the five pillars, only four have been constructed. We are extending the construction deadline till mid-July 2024,”he added. 

Ajay Lamichhane, a representative of Swachchhanda Contractor Company, said that the project was delayed because there was no road leading to the bridge from Myanglung. “Before we could start building the bridge, we had to build the road first,” he said. 

Following the project delay, Arjan Dhungana of Myanglung and Dik Bahadur Karki of Laligurans Municipality had lodged a complaint with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Local residents of Myanglung too have been putting pressure on the Myanglung Municipality and the District Administration Office, Tehrathum, to complete the bridge project.