Local people in the district have facing problems as the authorities concerned have not yet constructed around 18 bridges along the Chhinchu-Jajarkot road.

Initiated around 30 years ago and completed 24 years later, blacktopping of road started last year with financial help from the World Bank. Construction Entrepreneur Association Chairman Tej Bikram Shah said vehicular movement along the road has not been regular as no one has paid attention towards building the bridges.

Though the Department of Roads (DoR) started constructing a bridge over the Bheri river a decade ago, the project is yet to be completed, while survey, design and budget management are yet to be carried out to construct bridges at other places.

Local people use ferry to cross the Bheri river. Chief District Officer Chakrapani Pandey said development of other adjoining districts has been affected due to lack of bridges along the road. “Vehicles hardly ply on the road for six months,” he said, adding that prices of essentials in the area could go down if bridges were built along the road.

The road project chief Dipak KC said construction works such as road widening, construction of walls and drains and blacktopping will be completed within this fiscal year. He said the project office submitted details of bridges to be constructed to the DoR last year, but to no avail. “Blacktopping the road will be without use if bridges along the road are not constructed,” he said.