Road Division Ilam terminates stalled Mechi Corridor contract
The Road Division Office in Ilam has ended its contract for the Belase-Golakharka Bhanjyang section of the Mechi Corridor after 63 months in which less than half the work was done.
The Road Division Office in Ilam has terminated the contract for upgrading the 9.5-kilometre Belase-Golakharka Bhanjyang section of the Mechi Corridor (the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road), a route that links Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung. According to a public notice reported by Ratopati, the decision was taken on Wednesday, October 28 (Kartik 11), and the contractor was Kathmandu-based Khadka Krishna-Saksham JV.
The Rs 27.22 crore contract was signed on July 13, 2021 (Asar 29, 2078), and the work was due to be finished by January 14, 2024 (Poush 29, 2080). After an initial 30 months and 33 more in extensions, 63 months in all, the project was still far from complete. The outlets measure that progress differently: Ratopati, citing the office's notice, put financial progress at 45.28 percent, while Nagarik and Bizmandu reported physical progress of 47 percent. According to Nagarik and Bizmandu, less than three percent of the work was done in the last seven months.
The Road Division said the contractor had not met its obligations despite repeated written and verbal reminders, and had not kept to the written commitments and work schedules it submitted. The office cited Section 59(7) of the Public Procurement Act, 2063, and the contract's provisions on serious breach. It has given the contractor 15 days to settle accounts for completed work, and warned that otherwise it will assess the work on its own and begin action, including blacklisting, Ratopati reported.
Other contracts ended
The Ilam Road Division has ended 12 construction contracts since fiscal year 2081/82 (2024/25), according to the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, as reported by Nagarik. Rs 2.38 crore in advance payments has been recovered from contractors, and the office has written to the banks concerned to seize Rs 6.79 crore in performance guarantees. A new contract for the terminated section will be tendered once funding and approval for a multi-year contract are secured.
Mechi Highway widening
Elsewhere in the district, the Mechi Highway is being widened in six packages between Jorkalash on the Ilam-Jhapa border and Taplejung, turning narrow stretches into double lanes, Nagarik reported. Division Chief Pawan Bhattarai said work on two packages covering the stretch from Dhobidhara to Milgolai began in Shrawan (July-August).