The newly paved Charpane-Narayanchok-Jayapur road in Arjundhara Municipality, Jhapa, has started to crack and locals blame the use of low-grade materials.

The newly asphalted road did not even last for one month, said Laxmi Prasad Mainali, a local man.

“The six-kilometre road is riddled with potholes and cracks. This wouldn’t have happened if the contractor had used high-grade construction materials,” he said.

The road, which was built 58 years ago, was in a poor state due to a lack of maintenance.

According to the Infrastructure Development Office in Bhadrapur, Sah Engineering and Construction Company had won the tender to blacktop the road on July 4, 2017. According to the new deadline, the company has to complete the Rs 57.5 million project by the end of the current fiscal year.

The company had started the work only after locals piled pressure. The locals have also formed a committee to monitor the construction of the road, given the poor track record of Sah Engineering.

Pabitra Pathak, a local of Arjundhara and a member of the monitoring committee, said around 500 metres of the blacktopped road had developed cracks and potholes in the southern part of Arjundhara Dham. “The road was blacktopped at night, so we couldn’t see what kind of work the contractors did,” said Pathak.

Kundan Bhattarai, a member of Arjundhara Ward No.5 and the coordinator of the committee, said that the construction works cannot be described as “sub-standard” just yet.

“We will request the contractor company to repair the damaged road sections,” said Bhattarai.

Meanwhile, Prabin Dev, an engineer of the contractor company, claimed that some parts of the road sections were damaged due to weather conditions. “The blacktopped road has developed cracks due to cold temperature. We will maintain the quality of the road by repairing the damaged road sections,” said Dev.

The Infrastructure Development Office in Bhadrapur has also directed the Sah Engineering to repair the damaged road sections.

Ramesh Shrestha, chief at the office, said they have already directed the company to fill the cracks and potholes along the newly blacktopped road.