Road upgradation work on the Khadichaur-Mude section of the 55-km-long Lamosanghu-Charikot road has been halted since Friday.

Gauri Parbati, a construction company responsible for the upgradation of the road section, stopped work citing insecurities and lack of payment from authorities concerned. “We continued work after Gauri Parbati Sunaulo Khimti JV abandoned it.

We have not received payment of Rs60 million for the work we completed so far.

Moreover, the local people have issued death threats to some of our workers. There is not a suitable working environment for us,” said Lok Bahadur Shrestha, site-in-charge of Gauri Parbati Construction Company. He said that the construction company informed the local administration, police and people’s representatives about the issue.  

According to Shrestha, the local people manhandled workers on a regular basis, blaming the construction company for making the area along the road section extremely dusty. “We sprinkle water on the under construction road thrice a day to control the dust. Yet, the locals misbehave with our workers. We cannot resume work unless security for our workers is guaranteed,” said Shrestha, adding that the upgradation work was not as expected due to various obstacles.

The government had awarded the contract to Gauri Parbati Sunaulo Khimti JV on October 2015, on the condition of completing the work within two years. However, the contract was later extended to May 20, 2019, as it could not be completed on time.

Gauri Parbati Construction Company said that it was preparing to begin black topping the road after a week and complete the work on time.

Division Road Office in Charikot, however, claimed that the payment was stopped as the construction work was found substandard along a five-km stretch in the Khadichaur area. “We cannot pay the bills until the contractor improves work in the section. But the contractor should have conducive environment for the work,” said Dharmendra Jha, chief at the division road office.

The local administration has assured to provide security to the contractor. Chief District Officer Krishna Prasad Adhikari said the local administration took initiatives for security arrangement immediately after the contractor lodged a complaint.