Construction of a new bridge at Jabdighat area in Bardiya—where an under construction bridge had caved in six years ago— is left in limbo due to budget uncertainty, leaving the local people into hardships.

The authorities concerned are yet to release the budget required to construct the bridge over the Babai river despite the government’s repeated assurances. During his Bardiya visit on May 20, federal Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation Prakash Jwala had said that a tender bidding would be invited by mid-June. But the bridge construction process is yet to begin with the current fiscal year of 2022-23 is about to end.

Sanjaya Gautam, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Bardiya-1, had staged a fast-unto-death strike under the damaged Jabdighat bridge from May 13 with 15-point demands including the immediate reconstruction of the bridge. The lawmaker ended his hunger strike with an agreement with Minister Jwala.

“Around Rs1 billion budget is estimated to construct a new bridge of a tentative 400-metre length,” said Niraj Shakya, chief at the Division Road Office in Nepalgunj. “We sent a file to the finance minister a month ago to ensure a budget. However, the ministry has not yet released the budget.” Shakya added the office had already fixed the construction site of the new bridge that links ward 4 of Gulariya Municipality and ward 11 of Barbardiya Municipality.

“The new bridge is already named Babai river bridge,” Shakya said. “Bridge construction will commence soon after the ministry approves the budget. It takes around six months for survey work and design. The bridge can be completed within two and half years.”

The local people are hugely affected due to the delay in bridge construction. They vented their ire at the government for ignoring their problem. According to Phulpati Tharu of Padanaha in Barbardiya-4, the villagers could reach Gulariya, the district headquarters of Bardiya, within 15 minutes if the bridge was constructed in the Jabadighat area. “Now it takes nearly two hours to reach Gulariya now due to the lack of a bridge,” said Tharu, adding the bridge construction has been delayed due to the utter negligence of the government.

A road was constructed from Rajanawa near Nepal-India border in Gulariya to link it with the East-West Highway through Barbardiya. The road was blacktopped a year ago. But the road is not fully utilised due to the lack of a bridge over the Babai river.

“The local people have to face difficulties despite the construction of the road. The government should allocate a budget at the earliest to construct the bridge,” said Muktinath Yadav, mayor of Gulariya Municipality. According to him, around 150,000 people of Gulariya and Barbardiya municipalities have been directly affected due to the delay in constructing the bridge in Jabdighat area.

The Puppu Construction had constructed the bridge along the Gulariya-Rammapur road linking northern Bardiya with the East-West Highway at an estimated cost of Rs166.8 million. The bridge had caved in due to floods triggered by incessant rainfall in August 2017 even before it was handed over to the government authorities. Two spans had caved in as the floods damaged two pillars of the 435-metre long bridge. Many suspect the bridge had suffered damage as the contractor had used substandard materials while constructing it.