Kathmandu. MYAGDI: A motorable bridge is to be constructed as an alternative to the Phaperkhet landslide that has become the main challenge along the Beni-Darwang road that connects three local levels in the western region with the district headquarters Beni.

The Gandaki state government has started the process to construct a motorable bridge over the Myagdi River linking Mangala rural municipality-3 and Simalchaur in the current fiscal year 2083÷84.

Last year, the agreement reached by the federal government to provide a bailey bridge, connect the province government and construct an access road could not be implemented due to the situation arising out of the Jenji agitation.

Chief of Infrastructure Development Office, Myagdi, Dr Mahendra Baniya, said that although the state government has secured source of budget of Rs 75 million on the basis of technical report that the construction of a bailey bridge along the Beni-Darwang road is prone to heavy traffic, the construction of a motorable bridge has not been announced.

According to him, design and build is the contract system that executes the design and construction of a project by a single company or contractor. The Myagdi River lies below the road at Phaparkhet on the border of Beni Municipality-4 and Mangala Rural Municipality-2.

Landslides occur every rainy season since the road was opened before 2060 BS and direct transport services on the 24-kilometer long Beni-Darwang road have been obstructed, increasing the risk of road accidents, said locals.

In the past two months, two trucks carrying goods have met with accidents in Myagdi River from the narrow road at the area. Locals of Tamankhola rural municipality of Baglung also use the Beni-Darwang road which connects Mangala, Malika and Dhaulagiri rural municipalities with Beni bazaar.

The landslide, known as the ‘Rotation’, has affected the movement of locals, to transport the sick to hospitals, to the market of milk, vegetables, fruits and daily essentials and construction materials. Landslides have caused injuries and damage to vehicles plying on narrow roads. According to the locals, there is a risk of landslides at any time.

Five under-construction hydropower projects in Myagdi River, Dandakhet-Rahughat substation, transmission line, roads, buildings, drinking water, irrigation and other development projects have also been affected by the landslide.

Although the then District Development Committee (DDC) had constructed a concrete wall under the road to prevent the erosion of the Myagdi River, efforts to control landslides on the road have failed and the investment has gone in vain. The Infrastructure Development Office has been making arrangements to clear the landslide on the road and operate the transport.