Janakpurdham, October 29
Federal Minister for Physical Infrastructure Sunil Lamsal announced on social media on September 18 that construction of the Kamala Bridge, which connects Dhanusha and Siraha districts along the Postal Highway, had reached its final stage.
After 15 years as a stalled project, work on the bridge had gathered pace, and it would be brought into operation within two months, he claimed.
“Construction has reached its final stage, with the aim of formally bringing the bridge into operation within the next two months,” Lamsal wrote. Prime Minister Balen Shah also shared the minister’s post.
If Lamsal’s announcement is taken at face value, the bridge should be operational by the end of November. Only around 20 days remain before his two-month deadline expires. But the situation at the construction site tells a different story.
Lamsal had also inspected the under-construction bridge on May 20.
On September 22, House of Representatives member Tapeshwar Yadav, who is also the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Madhesh Province chair, inspected the site. He too told local residents that the bridge would be completed and opened within the next two to three months.
Earlier, on March 31, RSP lawmaker Shiva Yadav, elected from Siraha-1, had said after inspecting the bridge that he had discussed with Minister Lamsal how to bring it into operation by the end of the previous fiscal year.
“During the discussion, the minister instructed the concerned authorities to find a way to complete the work and bring the bridge into operation by the end of the fiscal year,” Yadav had told journalists.
Like the current RSP ministers and lawmakers, previous prime ministers, ministers and parliamentarians have repeatedly visited the Kamala Bridge and offered assurances that it would soon be completed. Visits, photographs and promises of an imminent opening have become a familiar routine.
Yet, 15 years after construction began, the bridge remains unfinished.
For people travelling along the Postal Highway, considered a lifeline for Madhesh, and those forced to take alternative routes, the hardship has been immense. Thousands of people cross the Kamala River by boat every day. The risks and distress of travelling without a bridge are difficult to put into words.
Without a bridge over the river, residents of Saptari and Siraha have to travel more than three times the usual distance to reach Janakpurdham. People from Dhanusha and Mahottari face similar difficulties when travelling to Siraha or Saptari.
Repeated assurances from successive ministers and lawmakers have only deepened the frustration of local residents, who increasingly feel that the state and political leaders are making a mockery of their suffering.
“I no longer believe what politicians and ministers say. They have turned our suffering into a joke. The new ones are no different from the old ones,” says Ghuran Goit of Basbitta in Siraha Municipality. “Even now, it is difficult to complete the bridge and open it within two months. They have done nothing but deceive us.”
Nathuni Yadav, who regularly wades through floodwater to reach his farmland on the Dhanusha side of the river, shares the same sentiment. He has stopped believing that he will ever get to cross the bridge.
Some of his friends, who were over 60, died while waiting for the bridge to be completed.
“All politicians and ministers are the same. They are teasing the public and making a joke of us. I have stopped thinking about the bridge,” he says despondently. “I wade through floodwater to reach my fields throughout the year. I no longer care. My neighbour Biltu was younger than me. He used to say he wanted to see the bridge and cross it before he died. But he passed away years ago.”
Ramdev Yadav of Basbitta-6 in Siraha Municipality also believes that, despite the recent acceleration in construction, completing the bridge within the minister’s two-month deadline is highly unlikely.
“Work has progressed faster than before, but a lot remains to be done. Opening the bridge within two months seems almost impossible,” he says.
Krishna Kumar Mahato, director of the Postal Highway Directorate in Janakpur, says work to rebuild the damaged pier number 10 has been completed, along with the concreting of the substructure. Strengthening work on the foundations and three piers has also been completed.
The remaining major task is concreting the upper sections of three bridge slabs. Mahato says the bridge could be opened by December.
“Concreting the three slabs is expected to be completed by October 27. After that, we are trying to fill the approaches on both sides with soil and bring the bridge into operation on a temporary basis,” he says. “Other works, including embankment construction, will continue alongside this.”
A 15-year project marked by delays and damage
In 2011, Pappu Construction secured a contract worth Rs 249.1 million to complete the bridge within 42 months. After the company failed to finish the work, Lumbini Builders was awarded a contract on June 27, 2021, to complete the 470-metre bridge.
The bridge was nearing completion and preparations were underway to open it when flooding on July 1, 2021, caused it to subside.
For the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure has secured a budget of Rs 250 million for the bridge construction and Kamala River control works.
Technical experts believe the bridge subsided before it could be opened because of faulty design and the use of substandard construction materials.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority concluded that the bridge’s design had been copied from that of a bridge over the Balan River. According to sources, the anti-corruption body has temporarily deferred filing a case to avoid obstructing the completion of the bridge.
For residents who have spent years crossing a dangerous river and waiting for a permanent connection between the two districts, the latest deadline is another promise to watch. Whether the bridge will finally open as announced remains uncertain.
