One of the highly-anticipated road connectivity projects in Rukum West and Rukum East has been left in limbo for the past two years.

The 30-km road construction project is part of the Rural Connectivity Improvement Project (RCIP) under the Department of Local Infrastructure. The contract for the project was awarded to PH Shankar Mali JV Construction Company for Rs907.9 million.

According to RCIP, the project is divided into two packages—a 12-km road section in Rukum East and an 18-km road section in Rukum West. The three-year-long project was initiated on June 21, 2018, and was expected to be completed by November 11, 2021.

The project was initiated with a concessional loan from the Asian Development Bank which covered 80 percent of the project cost while the government contributed the remaining 20 percent.

“The construction company sought deadline extensions seven times since it started work,” said Ramashish Shah, head manager of RCIP Office, Rukum West.

The 12-km road stretch in Rukum East connects Deukhola in ward 14 to Triveni in ward 12 of Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality, one of the remotest local units of the district. The 18-km road stretch in Rukum West runs from Shitalpokari in ward 6 of Musikot Municipality to Chunbang, a village on the border of Rukum West and Rukum East.

“The project has so far seen only 22 percent physical progress and 18.19 percent financial progress in the Rukum East section, while 80 percent physical progress and 66 percent financial progress in the Rukum West section,” said Shah. “There has been no further progress because the construction company has not done any work for the last two years. There are no workers at the construction site.”

According to Shah, the construction company has taken a payment of Rs491.1 million so far.

Out of the 18-km road section in Rukum West, a 13-km track is yet to be opened while work on the drainage and retaining walls remains to be completed on the remaining 5 km.

The incomplete state of the 18-km road in Musikot Municipality has made travelling risky for the locals, says Basanta Khadka, chairman of ward 10 of Musikot Municipality in Rukum West.

“The structures like the retaining walls that were being built have started to collapse. The gravel work done on the surface has also started to come off in several places creating huge potholes,” he said. “No work has been done on this road for the past two years and despite our repeated requests to the RCIP, the road remains in a shoddy condition.”

The absence of roads in Musikot Municipality is a major hurdle for the locals to receive medical aid during an emergency. The operation of the 18-km road is expected to connect wards 8, 9 and 10 to the Rapti Highway via Shitalpokhara in ward 6.

Jamuna Rokaya, a local of ward 10 of Musikot, says that while the locals travel on vehicles during the dry season, they get cut off from the rest of the wards of the municipality during the rainy season.

“We suffer the most from a lack of road connectivity during medical emergencies. It becomes challenging and risky to take patients to health centres through the road,” said Rokaya. “If this road was completed, patients would reach the hospital on time.”

In Rukum East, out of the 12-km road stretch from Deukhola in ward 14 to Triveni in ward 12 of Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality, nine km of road have been opened but work on drainage, retaining walls, and subgrading are yet to be completed.

“We were elated when the road construction started. We saw it as a blessing since our villages are located in remote areas and road connectivity meant some development in infrastructure,” said Ganesh Khadka, a resident of Naigadha in Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality. “But we have lost hope of any development after the construction work stopped two years ago.”

In Rukum East the 12-km road will give road access to locals of wards 1 and 2 of Sisne Rural Municipality and wards 7, 12, 13 and 14 of Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality.

According to Shyammani Kafle, senior divisional engineer of the RCIP, the monitoring team from the RCIP inspected the project last year and recommended terminating the contract with the company and taking legal action against it due to substandard and incomplete work. The Asian Development Bank also suggested the RCIP terminate the contract with PH Shankar Mali JV Construction Company and call a fresh tender for the project, said Kafle.

“The company left the site some two years ago and the RCIP issued a notice to terminate the contract with the company last year. But the company convinced us that they would pick up pace and complete the project,” said Kafle. “They sought an extension for the seventh time and then disappeared.”

Shah, the RCIP head manager in Rukum West, informed that they have already proceeded with terminating the contract with PH Shankar Mali JV Construction Company and calling for new bids. “The process will be complete after sorting out legal complications and hopefully work on both sections of the road will resume soon,” he said.