Eight months ago, the under-construction concrete bridge over the Kawa River connecting Manebhanjyang of Ram Prasad Rai Rural Municipality-5 with Raniban of Hatuwagadhi Rural Municipality-2, both in Bhojpur district, got broken.
As per the agreement, the construction of the bridge was to be completed by the end of 2020, but negligence on the part of the contractor as well as other factors extended the completion deadline of the 45-metre long and six-metre wide bridge by one year.
Started construction with the financial support of Rs. 50 million from the Swiss government, the bridge was said to be earthquake-resistant and to have 80 years of life span.
The lack of a bridge has hit the citizens of southern part of the district especially hard. People from Hatuwagadhi and Aamchowk have been bearing the brunt particularly during the rainy season. “People here risk their lives to cross the flooded river. Complete disregard by the concerned authorities have put the reconstruction work of the bridge in limbo,” said Yaduraj Thapa, a local.
The reconstruction process will likely begin in October/November because it difficult to erect pillar of the bridge during monsoon season, said Prem Rai, ward chair of Hatuwagadhi Rural Municipality. We will make concrete efforts to reconstruct the bridge after holding discussions with all the stakeholders and concerned authorities on the matter, said Nirman Rai, ward chair of Ramprasad Rai Rural Municipality. According to him, since the municipality is busy preparing budget, policy and regulation programme, it cannot keep an eye on the reconstruction work.
There is no alternative way to connect the two municipalities. The dream of many years to walk through a concrete bridge has been shattered because the bridge collapsed even before its completion, said a local.
Rajeswor Mahato, chief of Physical Development Office of Bhojpur, however, said that the reconstruction work stopped because of a lack of construction materials. “The contractor company has informed us that it will restart the work soon, so we expect the work to start without delay.”
Source : TRN,
