Construction work on a 320-km section of the Postal Highway Project has been at a standstill for the last eight months after the Indian contactors abandoned it without notice. A joint venture of two Indian companies Vishwa

and BVSR had been contracted to build the road by December 2013.

The joint venture had been given a contract divided into three packages to strengthen 11 sections of the proposed highway falling in the districts of Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusha in the Tarai. The major construction works are improving the current road foundation to a width of 7.5 m and blacktop a width of 3.5 m.

As the contractor has left the project without notification, the progress of the much-hyped Tarai road which has been listed as a national pride project has remained poor in the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2013-14. So far, the project has spent Rs 224.8 million out of the budget allocation of Rs 2.21 billion for the current fiscal year. Similarly, two crossings have been completed out of the target to build 20 bridges this year.

The highway extends from the east to the west of the country along the lower portion  of the Tarai. It is being undertaken with the assistance of the Indian government as part of a bilateral cooperation programme. According to officials at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the contractor had been complaining about the Nepal government taking a long time

to make the alignment free

of public utility service

lines and a shortage of Nepali workers.  The Postal Highway Project had signed the agreement with Vishwa-BVSR JV in 2011 for three packages (3, 4 and 5) out of the six packages. As per the contract, it is the responsibility of the Nepal government to provide the land required for road construction, remove public service utilities, cut trees falling in the alignment and construct bridges. After the contractor left the project, the Physical Infrastructure Ministry is at a loss as to what to do next, and has been consulting with the Indian Embassy to find a solution.

Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Physical Infrastructure Ministry, said that they had informed the Indian Embassy about the negligence of the contractor. He said that they were asking the Indian Embassy to terminate the contract with the firm. “But the Indian Embassy said that it was concerned about the contractor going to court in India,” Sitaula said. Under the first phase of the construction that started in 2010, the Postal Highway Project is constructing 19 roads having a total length of 606.75 km in six packages. The project has stated that the other three packages falling in the districts of Kailali, Banke, Bardia, Dang, Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari were making progress despite some problems in Kailali and Parsa. “We aim to complete package one which consists of an 88.7-km section in Kailali by September this year,” said Bijendra Bade Shrestha, senior divisional engineer of the Postal Highway Project.

He added that gravelling on a 53-km section in Kailali had been completed by the first seven months of the current fiscal year. In 2010, a JV of Indian contractors GR Infra Projects and Gawar Construction had bagged the contract for two roads under package one in Kailali.  

Under package two that was assigned to GVR Infra Projects in 2011, earthwork and culvert construction have been completed on a 15-km stretch. Similarly, under package six, the first layer of gravelling was completed on a 14-km section in Morang, and earthwork and culvert construction work is underway in Jhapa and Saptari.