In fiscal year 2021-22, the Road Division Office in Dang had allocated Rs100 million budget for the construction of a motorable bridge over the Sharada river at ward 1 of Sharada Municipality, Salyan.

Jaljala Jayama Swargadwari Construction Company was awarded the development project the same year. The construction company halted its work after four months; it demanded the design of the bridge be changed stating that they found a hard rock where a pillar of the bridge had to be erected.

The bridge construction has now been left in limbo since the past two and half years.

Meanwhile, Kalimati Rural Municipality initiated a drinking water lifting project at Kot village by releasing Rs10 million budget in the fiscal year 2020-21. The contractor completed around 40 percent of the drinking water project before it stopped work two years ago. More than two dozen families in Kot village have to walk for an hour to manage drinking water.

More than 100 development projects funded by the local, provincial and federal governments are under construction in Salyan, a hill district of Karnali Province. Each project has a budget ranging from Rs10 million to Rs100 million. As per data available at the local units, around 60 development projects including the construction of basic hospitals, drinking water projects, roads, school buildings, irrigation canals, and bridges are left incomplete in the district.

According to the information officers of the respective local bodies, those development projects were incomplete mainly due to three reasons—the government’s failure to allocate required budgets, negligence of the contractors and complaints registered at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority for shoddy development works.

There are 10 local units in Salyan. Among the development projects left incomplete are 12 in Sharada Municipality, three each in Bagchaur Municipality and Bangad Kupinde Municipality, 12 in Kapurkot Rural Municipality, nine each in Darma Rural Municipality and Kalimati Rural Municipality, four each in Tribeni Rural Municipality and Chhatrishwari Rural Municipality, and two each in Siddakumakh Rural Municipality and Kumakh Rural Municipality.

A drinking water project at Damachaur of Chhatreshwari Rural Municipality-1 is nowhere near completion. Construction work of the project was halted due to budget shortage and negligence of the contractor. The villagers have been facing a shortage of drinking water for years and their dream of having access to clean drinking water with the completion of the project has been shattered.

“We have to walk for hours to fetch a bucket of water in the dry season,” said Nanda Oli, a local resident of Darmachaur. “It takes nearly two hours to get a turn in the natural spring to fill a pitcher. The villagers were happy thinking that the drinking water project would be completed timely. But the project is left in limbo now.”

Oli said that the villagers repeatedly urged the authorities concerned to complete the project but to no avail. According to her, many people migrated from the village mainly due to the drinking water crisis in the settlement.

In Darma Rural Municipality, construction of a 15-bed basic hospital is left incomplete. As a result, the local people have to visit the district headquarters or other towns and cities for health services.

Bhupendra Pun, a technician at Darma, said that the basic hospital and construction of six school buildings under the ‘president educational reform programme’ were left incomplete due to budget shortage. “The government did not release the budget of these multi year development projects,” he said.

Most of the development projects operated by the provincial and federal governments are left incomplete. Budget release has been delayed, if not stopped, with the change of government in the provincial and federal level.

“The development projects have been delayed as the government awarded multiyear contracts for the big projects. Most of the projects funded by the federal and provincial governments are left incomplete,” said Tirtha Raj Dangi, information officer at Bagchaur Municipality.

Prem Oli, an engineer at the Office of Drinking Water and Energy Development in Salyan, said that the drinking water projects are not abandoned. “They are just delayed due to shortage of budget,” he said, admitting that local people are hugely affected due to project delay.

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क्याप्सनः जिल्ला अस्पताल सल्यानमा अलपत्र परेको दुई भवन । तस्बिरः विप्लव महर्जन ÷कान्तिपुर ।

क्याप्सनः बजेट अभाबमा निर्माणको काम केही महिना यता रोकिएको कुमाखको १५ सैयाको अस्पताल भवन । तस्बिरः विप्लव महर्जन÷कान्तिपुर ।

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