Construction of Birgunj-Thori section of Postal Road halted
PARSA, MAY 05 -
Construction of the Birgunj-Thori section of the Postal Road has been affected after the contractor was barred from extracting sand and boulders from a nearby river.
Following a Cabinet decision, the Chitwan National Park (CNP) Authority has outlawed the company from extracting sand and boulders from the Sikaribas River.
After the settlement of compensation for the land acquired for the road, Indian construction company Vishuwa had started work on the project some three months ago.
According to Shivendra Jha, an engineer at the Department of Roads, Birgunj, the work was obstructed after the CNP Authority asked the company to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment first to extract sand and boulders from the river.
“Although the company needs over 100,000 cubic metres of stone for the construction purpose, the authority has granted permission for only 1,500 cubic meters,” he said.
The road is being constructed under the financial assistance of India. As per the agreement signed with India, Nepal will be responsible to provide necessary construction materials free of cost to the Indian construction company.
The consumers’ committee at Thori had already granted permission to extract the resources from the river. “However, the CNP Authority is against the extraction of sand and boulders from the river,” said Jha, adding the authority is positive on allowing a crusher factory on the banks of the Odar stream.
A meeting of the stakeholders, including Parsa Chief District Officer Vedi Madhav Gyawali, chiefs of other government offices and CNP officials, on Saturday failed to solve the dispute, according to Jha.
About three months ago, Visuwa started the construction work on the 53-km Birgunj-Thori section from Ramnagari VDC of Parsa.
As per the agreement signed with India, the southern neighbour will do the blacktopping and construct small culverts, while the Nepal government will undertake construction of big bridges along the road.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
