Seven-Year Delay Plagues Damak-Chisopani Road Project

Fikkal. Seven years have passed since the contract was signed for the first phase of the Damak-Chisopani road (Falgunanda Road), which connects Damak in Jhapa to Chisopani Panchami in Panchthar via Mangsebung in Ilam.

Had the construction company completed the work on time, the road reaching the Mangsebung Rural Municipality-4 ward office from the Jhapa-Ilam border would have been blacktopped by now. Although work on this section began in 2075 BS, it remains incomplete.

The delay has caused significant hardship for locals. While approximately 6.5 kilometers have been paved, one kilometer remains unfinished. The contract, signed on 29 Shrawan 2075 BS with a 30-month completion deadline, has failed to materialize despite four extensions. The final extension expired at the end of Ashar 2080 BS.

The contract for the 6.29-kilometer stretch was valued at Rs 225.964 million. Shyam Kumar Yadav, Chief of the Road Division in Damak, stated that the contractor is currently working under daily fines. "The final extension expired two and a half years ago," he said. "We are imposing daily fines and pressing them to complete the remaining kilometer." While 33 kilometers of the track have been opened, the failure to pave the initial section has left residents frustrated.

Pravin Limbu, a resident of Mangsebung Rural Municipality-3, noted that travelers face dangerous conditions, dealing with dust in the winter and mud during the monsoon. "I was a child when construction began, and thousands of us are still suffering because the project remains incomplete," he said.

Meanwhile, work on the second and third phases of the road has stalled. The contract for widening and paving these sections—15 kilometers and 11 kilometers respectively—was awarded to Lumbini-Ganapati JV on 2 Falgun 2076 BS. The second phase was valued at Rs 544.487 million and the third at Rs 591.535 million. Both contracts expired on 2 Falgun 2079 BS. With only 62 percent of the second phase and 28 percent of the third phase completed, the contractor abandoned the site.

In Falgun 2080 BS, the Department of Roads terminated the contract with Lumbini-Ganapati JV and forfeited their bank guarantee. Although the company filed a writ at the Patan High Court, the court dismissed it. Previously, the company had filed a separate case at the Jhapa District Court seeking enforcement of the contract. On 21 Poush, the district court ordered that the dispute be resolved through arbitration, a process that is yet to be implemented, according to Division Chief Yadav.