The construction workers stranded at various construction sites of Kaligandaki corridor road projects in rural Nawalparasi (East) for the past one week prepared to head home on Monday morning. Among them was Santosh Raut, a worker at a construction site in Gauda, who had earlier informed about 150 workers like him being stranded at the site.

However, the representatives of the construction company who were to manage the Gauda workers’ logistics have gone out of contact since Monday morning.

Raut told the Post over the phone on Monday that the contractor, Rishi Gauli of Aashish construction is out of contact.

Khim Bahadur Giri, the sub-contractor working under Gauli, had made a phone call to the workers at the Gauda construction site asking them to prepare for the journey homewards. Giri is currently at the site but hasn’t been able to reach his supervisors to arrange logistics for the workers. “The construction company representatives had asked us to be ready to leave the job site, that they were making arrangements for vehicles to take us home,” said Raut. “But the sub-contractor, Giri, has been trying to reach them since morning but Gauli’s phone is switched off.”

According to Raut, the workers at the Gaula construction site hasn’t been paid their wages for the past two months.

Gauli’s accountant, field supervisor and other staff have also left the construction site leaving the workers behind. Gauli, a resident of Chitwan, owes more than Rs40million to the construction workers, according to Raut.

Nawalparasi Chief District Officer Pitambar Ghimire told the Post that a police team has been mobilised to search for the absconding contractor. “We are also in contact with other contractors to learn about Gauli’s whereabouts,” said Ghimire. “The workers are running out of food in the construction sites. The construction company has to take responsibility for their well-being.”