The four-lane road in Marchawar of Rupandehi district has been left incomplete since dozens of roadside trees are yet to be cleared. Some trees are right in the middle of the under construction road that connects the Marchawar to Indian in the south and the East-West Highway in the north.

Construction work along the Bangai-Semara-Khairaghat section of the Belbas-Bethari-Marchawar remains disrupted as the authorities concerned have to clear the roadside trees. “We have been prepared to blacktop the road for a long time now. The road base stretching from Gurwaniya to Maryadapur of Marchawar has already been readied for blacktop work. But we cannot proceed with the asphalting work because there are trees in the middle of the road,” said Taufik Ahammad, contractor of the road project.

Marchawar, the village which lies around 17 km south of Bhairahawa, lags behind in overall development due to lack of good roads. The Road Infrastructure Development Office in Rupandehi started construction of the four-lane road with an objective to link Marchawar areas with fine roads.

The road is under construction on both sides of an irrigation canal from Balbas on the East-West Highway to Khairaghat of Marchwar. The Belbas-Bethari section has already come into operation, but the construction of a five kilometres long road from Gurwaniya to Maryadapur has been halted due to roadside trees.

The Road Infrastructure Development Office signed a contract agreement with Lumbini-Arghakhanchi-Babul JV in November, 2020 for the construction of the Gurwaniya-Maryadapur road stretch at the cost of Rs 231.2 million. As per the agreement, the construction company was required to complete the work by May, 2023. The Division Road Office in Rupandehi extended the project deadline by a year as the road project was delayed.

“We have been tired of approaching various authorities to request for felling the trees, but so far, our efforts have been in vain. How can we complete the project on time?” said Ahammad, adding, “This is the perfect time for blacktopping work, but unfortunately, we are unable to start the work.” He said around 75 percent of the work on the road section was completed.

According to the construction company, a total of 117 trees should be felled on the Gurwaniya-Maryadapur road section to complete the construction work. Ahammad said several meetings were held with the stakeholders into the matter, but they failed to make any headway.

“We have made multiple visits to various authorities including the provincial Physical Infrastructure Ministry, the Division Forest Office, the Division Forest Office, the Water Resource and Irrigation Development Division Office, among others. They assured us to sort out the problem within a week, but the problem remains,” lamented Ahammad.

The roadside trees could not be cut down due to confusion regarding which authority exactly owns them. Both the Division Forest Office and Irrigation Development Division Office, according to Ahammad, refuse to take decisions regarding clearing the trees.

According to Damodar Sapkota, the chief of the Water Resource and Irrigation Development Division Office, the land where the road construction is ongoing belongs to Marchawar Lift Irrigation Project. “The ownership of the land is under the federal government. We already informed the provincial Physical Development Ministry about the issue. It is learnt that the ministry wrote to the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation a month ago to resolve the issue. We are also waiting for a decision from the centre,” said Sapkota.

The local people of Marchawar expressed their concerns over the delayed road construction work. “The under construction four-lane road serves is crucial for Marchawar. The road connects the Chure region with India. The completion of the road project will certainly improve the living standards of the local residents,” said Om Prakash Yadav, a local and former agriculture minister. “The road is rough. It is dusty on clear days and extremely muddy during the rainy season,” he said.