The construction of Nepal’s second longest bridge is complete – before said time. The bridge which is 860 metres long and 10.5 metres wide connects Sisahaniya with Mahadeva of Rapti rural municipality. It was constructed at a total cost of approximately one billion rupees.
The construction of the bridge had been undertaken by Janak Construction Services in fiscal year 2015/16. Although the deadline for construction was fiscal year 2019/20, the construction has been completed before that, Sunil Babu Panta, chief of Bridge Planning Sector Number 3, the government body implementing the bridge construction project, said.
According to Panta, a four-year agreement had been reached with the construction company for completing the construction of the bridge, but it has been completed four months before the deadline. He said the bridge construction has been completed and the construction of the approach road is underway. Panta added that the bridge will be inaugurated in January 2020.
Areas on the other side of the Rapti river have become accessible throughout the year with the construction of the bridge. Otherwise, transportation used to be disconnected during the monsoon season or people had to take a longer route via Kalakate-Bhalubang to travel to this side from the other side of the Rapti river. This route was longer by one and half hours. Now, the travel time has been reduced to 15 minutes.
It is believed that the construction of the bridge will also facilitate in increasing the income of local farmers as they will be able to transport their agricultural production to the market more easily and at a lower cost.
