The construction of a Kankai Bridge that connects Jhapa Rural Municipality-2 and Gauriganj Rural Municipality-1 has been stalled for the past 13 years.
The locals are suffering as the bridge, for which the construction contract was signed in 2011, remains incomplete.
Unheeded from concerned bodies
Transportation between Jhapa and Biratnagar would have been much easier if this bridge had been completed. Its incomplete status has affected the business and tourism sectors of the Koshi Province.
According to the Department of the Road Directorate, Planning Office, Itahari, the contract for the bridge construction was awarded on June 13, 2011, with a stipulated completion deadline of June 12, 2015. However, despite the passing of several years since the deadline, only 58 per cent of the bridge’s physical progress has been achieved so far.
Engineer Prabhat Kiran Rai, the Information Officer at the Department of Road, stated that despite extending the contract five times, the construction progress failed to accelerate. The deadline for the fifth extension expired in June 2024, yet significant work on the bridge remains incomplete.
After discovering a technical issue in the bridge’s construction, the experts from Pulchowk Engineering Campus studied it and submitted a report.
“Despite being asked multiple times to resume work after studying the report, the construction company has not yet resumed the work,” says Rai.
He further says if they remain unwilling to start the work, they are preparing to cancel the contract and initiate a new process.
Despite the continuous efforts of the chief minister, construction businesspersons, and other stakeholders remained unresponsive to the issues, says Lakhi Kumari Ganesh, a Member of the Koshi Province Assembly.
“It is understood that the work has been halted because the construction process did not align with the cost estimation,” says Ganesh. “If the current contract is cancelled and a new process is initiated, it could take longer, so it is better to resume construction under the existing contract.”
Suffering of locals
Tanka Prasad Shrestha, a resident of Gauriganj Rural Municipality 1, laments that over the past 13 years, multiple governments have been formed, and different ministers have come and gone. However, despite these changes, the bridge, which was supposed to be completed within four years, has not been finished.
“The construction company has already taken the construction materials from the site. Now the hope of travelling on the Kankai Bridge has been ruined,” says Shrestha.
Himal Kumar Chamlagai, Ward Chair of Jhapa Rural Municipality 2, says that there is no information as to why the construction of the bridge has been stopped for the past year.
“We have requested the concerned authorities several times to complete this bridge but they have remained indifferent to us,” says Chamlagai.
People are compelled to travel at their own risk as the Kankai Bridge has remained incomplete for ages.
The inappropriate temporary solution
Kartik Lal Rajbanshi, the Ward Chair of Gauriganj 1, mentioned that his rural municipality has allocated a budget of 2,30,000 for the operation of a boat during the monsoon season. He added that the individual who took the contract has taken the initiative to build a bamboo bridge during the winter, specifically for motorcyclists and pedestrians.
According to Ishwar Majhi, who took the contract for building the temporary bamboo bridge on the Kankai River, the toll for using the bridge is Rs 50 for motorcycles and Rs 20 for pedestrians.
However, there has been increasing protest from the locals regarding the toll collection.
In response to these protests, Rajbanshi mentioned that there are ongoing discussions about potentially making travel across the bamboo bridge free of charge, as the public dissatisfaction continues to grow.
