Achham road office terminates six stalled contracts, including Mangalsen road
The Road Division Office in Sanfebagar has cancelled the contract for a 10-km strategic road linking Mangalsen to rural Achham after work stalled at 19.83 percent, one of six stalled contracts it has ended.
The Road Division Office in Sanfebagar, Achham, has terminated the contract for a 10-kilometre strategic road that links the district headquarters, Mangalsen, with rural parts of the district. Physical progress on the road had reached only 19.83 percent, Nagarik News reported. It is one of six stalled contracts the office has now ended.
The contract was signed on April 29, 2022 (Baisakh 16, 2079 BS), and the road was due to be finished by April 29, 2025. The deadline was then extended to April 29, 2026, but the work still was not completed. According to Nagarik News, repeated reminders to the contractor did not speed up construction.
The road was estimated to cost Rs 399.93 million. After ending the contract, the division office wrote to the contractor asking it to deposit Rs 382.40 million (Rs 38,23,96,493). Canada Nepal reported that a 35-day public notice on the deposit has been published.
The other contracts cancelled were for road and bridge works that had made no headway since 2076 BS, the office said, according to Nagarik News. They include maintenance of the Sanfe–Martadi road, road maintenance and drain construction in the Chaukhutte area, and the Kolti–Kawadi–Bichhyasain road in Bajura.
Canada Nepal reported that the terminations followed a directive from Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal to act against contractors who fail to finish work on time. It said the ministry has written to contractors seeking to recover more than Rs 490.6 million across the six cancelled contracts.