KATHMANDU: An under-construction bridge over the Trishuli River connecting Bharatpur’s Thimura and Devghat’s Ghinatar in Chitwan has collapsed at around 4 am on Tuesday.
The bridge construction consumers’ committee blamed the collapse on the negligence of the contractor. The length of the bridge was 220-meter and width 8.5-meter. Consumers’ committee suspect technical fault and use of substandard materials during construction led to the disaster.
Adventure Construction – the contractor – was constructing the bridge and has had missed several deadlines in the past.
The consumers’ committee informed that 75% of bridge construction was completed as of Monday. The bridge was being built with the aim of bringing it in operation by the current fiscal-end.
A technical committee will conduct a study to find the reason of the collapse. Around 80-meter of the bridge section has collapsed, according to Bharatpur Road Division Office.
The contract for bridge was awarded on November 6, 2013, at an estimated cost of Rs 193 million. The initial deadline was three years. However, the design of the bridge was altered when the initial deadline approached.
Following the change in design, the deadline was extended till April 2019. The deadline was extended by a year again in December 2019, following amendment to Public Procurement Act, 2007.
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