A bridge under construction over the Chandi river in ward 3 of Chandrapur Municipality in southern Nepal’s Rautahat district has become a stark example of contractor negligence and official apathy, with the project still incomplete nearly a decade after work began.

The bridge, considered a lifeline for residents of the remote Gaindatar area in the Chure hills, was supposed to be completed within two years. But despite repeated deadline extensions, locals remain cut off from easy access to the district headquarters, markets, hospitals and other essential services.

During the monsoon, flooding in the Chandi river regularly severs the area’s connection with the rest of the district, forcing residents to cross dangerous waters at great personal risk.

Frustration among locals has intensified over the years. In May 2023, residents of Gaindatar staged a relay hunger strike beneath the unfinished bridge to pressure authorities into completing the project. They also formed a struggle committee and demanded the cancellation of the contract, as well as action against the contractor, engineers and officials at the Chandranigahapur Road Division Office.

Before launching the protest, residents had submitted memorandums to the road division office on three separate occasions.

“Even after protests and repeated appeals, the bridge remains unfinished,” said Govinda Timilsina, coordinator of the local struggle committee. “We do not know how much longer we will have to wait.”

Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Ganesh Paudel recently visited the construction site and urged both the contractor and officials to expedite the work.

“This bridge is not just a physical structure. It represents the lifeline of the people of Gaindatar and their trust in the state,” Paudel said. “It is unfortunate that the local administration, elected representatives and the road division office have not treated the prolonged delay seriously.”

The bridge project was awarded to Pappu Shivshankar JV under a contract worth Rs253.6 million. Construction of the 11-span bridge officially began after the agreement was signed on July 15, 2017, with a commitment to complete the project by July 16, 2019.

However, years later, the bridge remains incomplete.

The Road Division Office has extended the project deadline five times, most recently until the end of the current fiscal year in mid-July 2026. Even with the latest deadline approaching, officials admit progress remains unsatisfactory.

Road Division chief Arun Kumar Lalkarna said the work was progressing at a snail’s pace.

“It does not look likely to be completed by the end of the fiscal year,” he said. “We have repeatedly instructed the contractor to finish the work within the deadline.”

According to the office, around 80 percent of the work has been completed so far. Officials are already preparing another deadline extension if the contractor fails to finish on time.

Contractor Dayaram Sah has blamed financial constraints, monsoon rains, shortages of construction materials and other technical issues for the repeated delays.

“We are trying to complete the project by the end of the fiscal year,” Sah said. “Let us see what happens.”

Officials say only two spans and the railings remain unfinished.

The project has faced repeated delays since the beginning. After failing to meet the original deadline in 2019, the contract was first extended by 18 months under Nepal’s amended public procurement regulations. Further extensions followed, with the contractor citing the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and logistical problems.

Residents say the prolonged delay has severely affected daily life. Patients often cannot reach hospitals in emergencies, while local farmers struggle to transport agricultural products to markets.

The Chandi river bridge is not the only delayed infrastructure project in the district.

According to the Chandranigahapur Road Division Office, several other bridge projects awarded to Pappu Construction and Shivshankar JV remain incomplete years after their scheduled completion dates.

Construction of a bridge over the Lamaha river, contracted in 2021, has achieved only 60 percent progress after four years. Another bridge project at Laukaha-Pratappur-Paltuwa, contracted in 2016 and scheduled for completion in 2018, has also reached only around 60 percent completion.

Similarly, the Tarhari Khola bridge project at Pipariya Dostiya, contracted in 2016, has achieved just 58 percent physical progress. Another bridge over the Laukaha stream has reached only 55 percent completion.

Officials say repeated deadline extensions have failed to accelerate the work, while residents continue to pressure authorities to take action against contractors accused of abandoning projects after securing contracts.