KATHMANDU: The condition of the Butwal-Narayanghat road under the East-West Highway has become critical due to the delay of the contractor Chinese company.

Roads have been demolished in dozens of places for road expansion but construction work has not started. The contractor company is delaying the work under various pretexts time and again. Incomplete construction work, diversions made in different places, digging on road have weakened the existing road condition, making it nearly unusable and posing inconvenience to vehicles and travelers.

The contract for upgrading the 113 km road of the Butwal-Narayanghat section was awarded to a Chinese company, China State Engineering Corporation.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had laid the foundation stone for the up-gradation of the road section in Butwal on March 22, 2019. Following this, work started on the 65 km Gaindakot-Daunne section and 48 km Daunne-Butwal stretch in two phases.

Till date, as per the agreement, 70 percent work should have been completed but progress is too sluggish with only six percent of work accomplished.

With incessant rainfall since Wednesday, diversions in Gaindakot and Sunwal sections collapsed, disrupting traffic. Traffic was disrupted for 30 hours on Thursday morning when a swollen creek from a forest destroyed the foundation of the highway east of Nawalparasi.

Traffic is disrupted time and again for longer hours and even repair work has been too sluggish. A year ago, it took two days for traffic to resume when four diversions collapsed at the same time in Gaindakot.

DSP Dilip Kumar Giri, Information Officer at the District Police Office, East Nawalparasi, said he repeatedly instructed the contractor company to increase its pace but to avail.

The contractor company has been in controversy from the very beginning due to its activities of manhandling Nepali workers, being involved in unlawful activities and not paying workers’ salaries.

Residents around the highway have been fed up that their miseries of mud and dust were prolonging as the contractor company is delaying work.