After twelve long years, vehicles have finally started using the Tikuliya bridge across the Lalbakaiya river in Rautahat district.

The bridge brings much-needed relief to the locals of Gaur and Ishnath municipalities, who can now access fields, hospitals, and the district headquarters safely without relying on perilous boat journeys during the monsoon and dry seasons alike.

According to the Road Division Office in Chandranigahapur, construction work on the bridge project has reached its final stage. Division Chief Arun Kumar Lal Karna stated that construction is practically complete, allowing vehicular movement to commence smoothly. "The construction work is nearly complete. Only the road approach and river training works remain," said Karna, adding that remaining tasks are being fast-tracked for immediate completion.

With the bridge now operational, residents living across the Lalbakaiya river—including Banjaraha, Auraiya, and Mathiya—will find traveling to the district headquarters of Gaur significantly easier. For locals in Tikuliya who own agricultural land across the river, the opening removes the necessity of undertaking perilous daily commutes to reach their farms.

The foundation for the concrete bridge was laid amid a grand ceremony in July, 2014, by then prime minister Sushil Koirala. Pappu Construction was assigned the project and it was originally scheduled for completion by July, 2018, at a total cost of Rs149.327 million.

However, Hari Narayan Rauniyar, founder of the construction company, was elected as a federal parliamentarian from Sanghiya Samajbadi Party (now Samajbadi Party Nepal) in the 2017 elections. Although he relinquished his post at the firm upon entering active politics, the bridge construction work ground to a halt. Progress failed to exceed seventeen percent by 2017. 

Despite missed deadlines, Pappu repeatedly applied for time extensions through the roads office, but approvals were withheld due to stagnant progress. The Department of Roads finally blacklisted Pappu Construction and terminated the contract in June, 2023, paving the way for remaining works to restart through a new contractor.

The Road Division invited fresh tenders in March 2023, and awarded the contract worth RS276.6 million to Azad Dipu JV Rautahat in the following September. The new contractor committed to completing the remaining tasks by March, 2025. Yet, financial constraints and lack of budget hindered expected progress, forcing the Road Division to approve a first time extension in July this year.

Azad Dipu JV operator Ramsagar Raut stated that the bridge has been brought into operational condition despite navigating multiple challenges.

“The project is almost complete,” he said. “However, river training work has been affected by a shortage of stones as they are currently unavailable anywhere.”

The Road Division Office said the bridge construction gained momentum after Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal took personal interest in expediting the stalled project.

Local residents attribute years of suffering to contractor negligence, delayed contract termination, protracted re-tendering, budget deficits, and repeated deadline extensions.

Local resident Rambabu Sah expressed relief that future generations will no longer risk their lives on boats. Sah lost his mother, Shanti Devi, during a tragic boat capsize at the Tikuliyaghat in August, 2017.

“This bridge's story is not only an example of development delays, but also a tale of how negligence in public infrastructure severely impacts citizens' lives,” said Sah.

Local resident Sanjay Sahani said the absence of a bridge had long isolated communities on either side of the river as it disrupted social, economic, and family ties. Gaur Municipality lies on one side of the river and Ishnath on the other. Tikuliya residents' farmlands are also across the river. Residents of Banjaraha, Auraiya, and Mathiya had to keep an eye on river conditions before heading for Gaur. During the monsoon, rising water levels rendered boat journeys perilous, and also disrupted transportation for patients heading to hospitals and farmers tending crops.

Gaur Municipality Mayor Shambhu Sah said that the bridge resolves these long-standing obstacles. “It took twelve years to build a bridge that should have been completed in three or four years. This is tragic.”

On August 25, 2017, twenty-nine local residents returning across the Lalbakaiya river on a boat after completing agricultural work faced severe flooding around in the evening. As the boat navigated through the incomplete bridge's pillars amid strong currents, it lost control, collided with a pillar, and capsized. While twenty-four passengers swam to safety, five lost their lives.