Ilam. The delay in the construction of the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road (Mechi corridor) has further inconvenienced the people of Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung districts. Normal life has been affected as the highway was expected to be in limbo for years.
The distance of 86 kilometers is to reach Birtamod of Jhapa via the Mechi Highway.
However, with the completion of the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road, this distance will be reduced to around 48 kilometers. The project, which is considered important for short distance, time saving and easy mobility, has not been effective now due to delay in construction.
Khadka-Krishna-Saksham JV had on July 12, 2021 awarded the contract for Rs 272.1 million to complete the project within two years.
The deadline for the nine-kilometer-long Golakharka Bhanjyang-Belase section was set for 29th Poush 2080. However, the deadline has been extended time and again till September 2083 as the work could not be completed within the stipulated time. According to the Road Division Office, the physical progress of the project is only 46 percent even after five years.
According to Pawan Bhattarai, chief of the Division, the contract has included road widening, drainage, retaining wall, humus pipe, culvert, sub-base, base and blacktopping, but not even a single foot of blacktopping has been done so far.
“Work has been done up to the sub-base in 3-4 kilometers area, but due to the delay, that too has been washed away in the rainy season,” he said.
The delay in the 9.
5-km section from Golakharka Bhanjyang to Belase of the 48-kilometer road linking Ilam and Jhapa has affected the entire project. Vehicular movement along this section has also been affected due to mud and bad conditions.
Vehicular movement has come to a grinding halt due to a landslide at Rajduwali area along the Mechi Highway, which has been obstructed for the past few days.
In such a situation, although there was a plan to use the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road as an alternative route, the construction work has not been completed on time. Even now, with the onset of rains, the problem of problem on the highway has recurred, and the pain of lack of alternative has been repeated.
Earlier
, Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal, who was on a visit to Ilam, had directed the Road Division Office to scrap the contract of Belase-Rakse-Golakharka Bhanjyang, saying that the work was not satisfactory. However, the process of terminating the contract was stopped after giving the construction company one last chance. However, even after that, the work has not gained momentum, complained Man Kumar Fago, a local.
According to Iswar Chipalu, a local businessman, “If the road had been constructed, there would not have been any problem with the closure of the Mechi highway.”
But the delay in the work has made us even more miserable. From businessmen, students to ambulances carrying patients, everyone is suffering due to lack of alternative routes.
According to Chipalu, it is risky to depend on a single main road in the hilly districts.
Therefore, it is imperative that alternative routes like Kechana-Kanchenjunga road be completed on time. However, due to weak monitoring, negligence of the construction company and administrative dilly-dally, the project has not moved ahead at the expected pace.
Looking at the current situation, the locals feel that the Mechi corridor is limited to paper only.
The locals of Ilam have been facing a recurring road crisis every year as the road has not been completed on time.
The problem caused by the lack of an alternative route due to the obstruction of the Mechi highway and the delay in the construction of the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road have become two sides of the same coin. If the concerned authorities do not become serious even now, it is certain that the people of Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung will have to suffer for a long time.
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