SARLAHI: Construction of a section of the Postal Highway in Sarlahi district has been almost stagnant with no progress at sight for a long time now.

The construction of the road section stretching 40.37 kilometers in the district was initiated years ago but much to the dismay of the locals, it remains to be constructed efficiently and was far from completion.

Contract was awarded to Hindunga and Thokar Hira and Namita JV and Hindunga and Thokar Saha Constriction Services and Diva Construction Services to build this stretch of the Postal Highway in 2073 BS at a cost of Rs 640 million within five years.

Although the construction company has already obtained Rs 320 million for the construction, the condition of the road remains the same.
Kapil Mahato, a local in Godaita Municipality, bemoaned that they had been facing great difficulties due to the sorry state of the road section. He described, “We must go by the Postal Highway wherever we want to go. The construction work related to the road section is sluggish and on the other hand, the already constructed road-sections were dilapidated.”

The 1,792-km Highway is considered to be a vital road for the Terai region as it connects almost of the districts in the region stretching from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west, including Sarlahi.

According to Mahato, due to the poor condition of the roads, they were compelled to travel though dust in winters and mud in the monsoon.

Chief District Officer in Sarlahi, Thaneshwor Gautam, shared that the stakeholders had been holding meetings with contractor companies time and again and following up the matter but, he added, the contractor companies had been ignoring them. (RSS)