The contractors who had won bids to construct 11 permanent bridges along the 232km Surkhet-Jumla road on Karnali Highway are out of contact.

A majority of the bridges are incomplete, inconveniencing people travelling along the Karnali Highway as vehicles have to cross numerous rivers and rivulets. Drivers said they are facing difficulties wading vehicles across the streams.

The Divisional Road Office (DRO) in Surkhet said the contractors signed the agreements in June, 2012 with a plan to complete the bridges within 15 months.

According to the DRO, contractors of Bhattekhola, Kalekhola, Simlakhola, Baligadhkhola, Takulla-khola, Khallagadkhola and Chidenakhola, among other streams, are out of contact.

Locals said the under-construction bridges have been left unattended for several years. DRO chief Bel Bahadur Bhujel said they are preparing to blacklist the contractors.

The DRO has extended the construction deadlines thrice in the period. The office has concluded that the contractors have been careless about their work.