Baddi-Khambagade Road Project Faces Further Delay, Completion Pushed to 2025

Surkhet. If the work on the Baddi-Khambagade road section (13.9 km) had been completed on time, the people of Western Surkhet would have received relief two years ago. The problem remains due to the lack of promptness in the work of that section.

The Karnali Highway connects the Karnali Province capital Birendranagar to Baddi-Chaur towards the west. The initial part west of there is the Baddi-Chaur-Khambagade section of the Madan Bhandari Highway.

Stakeholders and government bodies had shown hope to the people of Western Surkhet that the road construction work would be completed before the upcoming Ashar. If the contractor company had worked according to its work schedule, the road would have been blacktopped by Ashar, but even half of the road work has not been completed yet.

'We had hoped to get relief from the road hardship during this monsoon,' said Kamal Neupane, a local of Panchapuri, met at a place called Biureni on the said road section on Thursday afternoon. 'Once again, our hopes have been dashed.'

Half of his family lives in Birendranagar and half in the village. He travels to and from Birendranagar-Panchapuri 5-7 times a month.

According to Neupane, when traveling, if it is sunny, the dust makes it impossible to recognize people, and on rainy days, it is difficult to travel due to mud.

He expressed concern that this monsoon will also cause trouble for the people of Western Surkhet due to the delay in the work of the road section. Most of the citizens of Chauku-ne Rural Municipality and Panchapuri Municipality, with a population of 62,789, are completely dependent on Birendranagar.

According to Deumansingh Bantola of Lagam, Chauku-ne Rural Municipality, the road sometimes becomes impassable during the monsoon, severing contact with Birendranagar in the west.

'The road has been built from Babiyachaur to here (west), but the road contracted by the former MP has not been built yet,' he told Ratopati. 'We worry about having to bring essential food supplies for 3-4 months of the rainy season in Jestha because of the road situation during the monsoon.'

A similar problem occurred last monsoon. Due to the road conditions, transportation entrepreneurs stopped operating vehicles, so the representatives of Chauku-ne transported locals to Birendranagar in the rural municipality's tipper.

Hoping for relief from the road hardship, the people of Western Surkhet sometimes protest by hanging the contractor's picture on trees and sometimes criticize the government and contractors on social media. Perhaps due to widespread public criticism, this section has become a headache for the Karnali government.

The people of Western Surkhet were hopeful that such problems would end starting this year, but so far, the progress on the said road section is limited to only 40 percent. It will be difficult to complete 50 percent of the work by the end of Jestha.

Project Delayed by Another Year

Due to government procedures and extreme negligence by the contractor, the work on this section of the highway has been pushed back by another year.

Anak-Jayadevi JV Banke took over the road construction contract in Saun 2079, with a completion deadline of Asar 24, 2081.

Jayadev JV is the construction company of former Congress MP Dikpal Shahi. The land acquisition and tree felling, which are government procedures, were only completed in Saun 2082 for this section, which has a cost of 42 crore 47 lakh 61 thousand. By that time, the deadline had already passed once.

At that time, the work did not gain momentum due to the problem of government procedures on one hand and extreme negligence by the contractor company on the other.

Although initial work like cutting was done rapidly, work was delayed again from Falgun. Currently, there are no problems at any site, but the contractor's lack of promptness in work means the work is unlikely to be completed within the latest deadline.

The Infrastructure Development Directorate then extended the deadline until Asar 2083. As the sub-contractor Jayadev JV, owned by former MP Shahi, could not perform effectively, the main contractor company 'Anak Construction' took full responsibility for the construction itself.

At that time, the Chief Minister of Karnali himself, Yamlal Kandel, had taken the initiative to bring the main company to the field. Anak started field work after the previous Tihar.

Although initial work like cutting was done rapidly, work was delayed again from Falgun. Currently, there are no problems at any site, but the contractor's lack of promptness in work means the work is unlikely to be completed within the latest deadline.

The acting director of the Infrastructure Development Directorate, Suryabahadur Shahi, stated that only 40 percent physical and 32 percent financial progress has been made so far.

'Except for 2 culverts, there are no problems in the field. We held a contract management discussion at the ministry last Kartik, and they could not work according to the revised work schedule they submitted to us on Ashar 10,' Shahi said. 'The delay in starting field work even after 8 months of tree felling and the non-mobilization of equipment and manpower raise questions about the construction entrepreneur's intentions.'

According to Director Shahi, Shankar Rawat, the representative of the contractor company Anak, had committed to achieving the expected progress by the third week of Asar 2083 at that time.

However, Director Shahi stated that the work in the field has not progressed as per the target. He clarified that there are currently no obstacles, hindrances, or problems from the office's side.

The contractor company's representative, Rawat, admitted that they could not work according to the target. 'Yes, we have made mistakes in the past, I admit,' he told the press team that went for monitoring on Thursday. 'It was difficult to find manpower. There was a problem with riverbed materials.'

According to him, 6 kilometers of gravel work has been completed so far, while 2 kilometers of drainage work is still pending. In some places, bridges and cutting are yet to be done.

He said that even though the work requires machinery, it is difficult to find manpower. Currently, a total of 45 workers are mobilized in 5 groups.

Vehicles Will Not Stop During Monsoon, All Work Will Be Completed by Asar 2084

Contractor representative Rawat said that all the road construction work will be completed in another year, by Asar 2084.

'This is my commitment and claim. I will create an environment where vehicle movement will not be suspended in Asar,' he said.

He asserted that the main demand of the people of Western Surkhet is that vehicle movement should not be stopped during the monsoon and said that this problem will not occur. 'There will be no situation where vehicles stop, I will do all the gravel work,' he said. 'The work on one culvert is underway, and it will be completed. The remaining drainage work will also be completed.'

According to Rawat, the plan was to complete at least 8 kilometers of blacktopping by Asar this year, but due to the war in West Asia, bitumen required for blacktopping could not be obtained. He said that this prevented the blacktopping work from even starting.

'It is difficult to get bitumen, and even if someone gives it, the price increase makes it difficult to buy,' he added.

This road is connected to the fate and future of the people of Western Surkhet. The track of the road, which is the backbone of Barahatal, Panchapuri, and Chauku-ne rural municipalities in the west, was opened three decades ago.

The western region is far behind in terms of development compared to Birendranagar, which is also the provincial capital of Karnali. This road is the backbone of development in the west.

Before the track was opened, this was a walking path for the people of the west. They used to travel this path to reach the district headquarters.

Vehicles started running on the road, whose track was opened in 049 BS, since 051 BS. During the conflict, budgets used to come for road upgrading in a sprinkle style. That budget was never spent on road upgrading.

Elderly leaders from the area recall that the budget did not reach the villages, and consumer committees were formed and funds were distributed within the district.

Due to political parties, the allocated budget was misused within the district and did not reach the villages, so the road could not gain momentum. This continued until 074 BS. After federalism, in 075 BS, the road was named Madan Bhandari Highway, but the center did not prioritize it in the budget.

Later, when Bindaman Bisht, the MP from the same area, became the provincial finance minister, a budget was managed to build the first 13 kilometers of the road from the provincial government.

However, delays are occurring due to procedural complexities and contractors. Meanwhile, the budget has been managed from the center, and the tail (western) part has been blacktopped.

Khagda Bik 'Biwash', the chairman of Chauku-ne Rural Municipality, says that the west is suffering because the work on the initial section has not been completed. 'The contractor should compensate for the suffering of the people and the damage to vehicles due to the road,' he said angrily to the contractor's representative. 'This is a great injustice to the people.'

Government's Final Warning to the Contractor Company

The Infrastructure Development Directorate has issued a final warning to the contractor company. Suryabahadur Shahi, head of the Directorate, said that the deadline will be extended by another year.

'If the work is not completed within that deadline, the contractor will be punished,' he said. 'This has been informed through a public notice.'