Kathmandu. The construction of the Kamala Bridge over the Kamala River along the border of Siraha and Dhanusha and Siraha along the Postal Highway is still underway even after 14 years of the contract.

The contractors have been working with the schedule of completing the construction of the Kamala bridge by mid-April. The length of the bridge is 469 meters.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transport and Urban Development Kulman Ghising on November 5 had directed the concerned authorities concerned to expedite the bridge construction and rehabilitation works.

Minister Ghising said that he would regularly monitor the construction works and threatened to terminate the contract if the work was not satisfactory.

He also directed the authorities concerned to make arrangements for the movement of the river temporarily by installing hum pipes at the place where the river is currently located. Accordingly, the contract is being managed and the pipe installation work is also going on.

Kamala Bridge is yet to be constructed even after 14 years of the signing of the contract. People have been facing problems in lack of bridges, vehicles have been compelled to travel through long routes and they are compelled to take risky and arduous journeys to cross the Kamala River.

The flood in the Kamala River on 17th Asar 2078 had damaged four slabs of the bridge after two foundations of the bridge collapsed. Among the damaged slavs, 2 slavs in Siraha (east) have been removed while 2 slavs in Dhanusha (west) have not been removed.

Accordingly, the work of slave lifting will now begin by strengthening the collapsed foundation. The concerned expert technicians are visiting and inspecting the lifting and preparing an action plan after studying.

The substructure work on the eastern side of the bridge (Siraha) has been completed. A foundation was sunk after removing 2 slaves from the Siraha side and two foundations were laid at the place. Now all that remains is to keep the plate girder. The work of making the plate girder is going on in Chitwan. Once the bridge is ready, it will be installed.

However, the construction of the river control and access road under the contract has not started. Discussions are underway on the design as the course of the river has changed following the floods in the Kamala River last September.

A contract agreement was signed with Pappu Lumbini JV for the construction of Kamala Bridge along the Postal Highway in 2068 BS at a cost of Rs 24÷.91 crore. As per the agreement, the bridge was supposed to be completed by November 2071.

The deadline for the contract extended for the seventh time had expired last June after the bridge could not be completed in the stipulated time. The contractors have submitted a proposal to extend the deadline till coming June. Currently, the contract is in the process of being extended. Currently, Lumbini is carrying out the rest of the work. So far, Rs 20.43 crore has been paid including VAT.