सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Baglung. The Kushmisera-Rangkhani road upgrade has gained momentum five years after the contract agreement was signed. The Kushmisera-Rangkhani road in Baglung, which was blacktopped in two years, is expected to be blacktopped only after five years.
The work has started after the locals’ agitation and siege of the infrastructure office due to the delay of the construction contractor. Even after the blacktopping of the road from Rangkhani to Bareng, where the last contract was opened, the locals had sieged the infrastructure office last Poush, saying that the 10-km section that was started in 2076 BS was not completed.
After the locals’ agitation, the construction contractor has returned to work and started the road upgrade work. Dinesh Ghimire, head of the Infrastructure Development Office, said that the contractor, who had not been in contact for a year, came to work after the locals’ agitation and pressure from the administration. Ghimire said that he had sent seven letters to the construction entrepreneur in a year.
According to Ghimire, the deadline for blacktopping the road is until Chaitra and the construction entrepreneur has committed to completing the work within that time. The road, which has made 57 percent physical progress in five years, is yet to be paved with gravel and blacktop.
Although the work including cutting, drainage construction and walls have been completed, the infrastructure has also been damaged in five years and needs to be repaired.
‘A contract agreement was signed with Sharma/Caravan JV in Asoj 2076 for Rs 245.8 million to be completed in two years, now the deadline has been extended for the third time, and the contractor has now returned to work after the locals’ protest,’ Ghimire said, ‘Construction entrepreneurs had been delaying the construction of the road citing the Corona scare and price hike. If the work continues at this pace, it is hoped that progress will be completed by Chaitra.’
After the rent was not paid, the food grains taken by the workers were not paid, and the citizens were suffering due to the dusty roads, the infrastructure office was surrounded in Poush under the leadership of local Bhim Shree.
Although the upper section of the Kushmisera-Rangkhani-Bareng road, which is the backbone of Jaimini Municipality, has been blacktopped, the work of blacktopping the lower section is still pending. Chief Ghimire informed that the Ministry of Infrastructure has extended the deadline for the third time as per the 13th amendment to the Public Procurement Act.
Construction entrepreneur Chandra Thakali informed that work is currently underway in full swing. The contract was awarded for dividing the 21 km road into two sections to connect Shantipur in Gulmi, covering the southern part of the district, Jaimini Municipality and Bareng Rural Municipality.
While the first contracted road has just been upgraded, the second section has been blacktopped and completed.
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