Delay in construction of a new bridge at Muglin along the Prithvi Highway has compelled the travellers to use the failing bridge nearby that can only accommodate single lane traffic. 

To cross the rickety old bridge built by the Chinese government in 1972, travellers are forced to put up with traffic jam, sometimes for hours.   

“Everyday we have to deal with the traffic jam to cross the bridge that is barely holding on. It is scary driving through it. We can feel it shaking, as if it is going to give way anytime now,” says Prashant Rijal, who has been in driving profession for a 

decade now.  

The bridge was deemed fit only for single lane traffic in 2010 when authorities discovered that it had been seriously undermined over decades of use, with little maintenance and reinforcement of the structure. These days, the bridge has to be repaired daily to keep it together from further deterioration.  

Meanwhile, the new arch bridge which is being constructed nearby is nowhere near complete, though it was supposed to come into operation by the middle of this month. The Rs 110 million bridge project had started two years ago by Adventure Construction Company.

Karna Khatri, an engineer at Division Road Office in Damauli, Tanahun, said the project had fallen behind schedule because of the 2015 earthquakes and the trade embargo enforced by India, which caused shortage of construction materials.  

Ramhari Pokharel, who oversees regional bridge projects, claimed that despite the bridge would be completed by the end of this year.

“This year’s monsoon had also delayed the project’s progress, but now that the monsoon is also over, we see no other problems ahead to stop the bridge from being completed,” he said.