March 3: The locals of Bhajani Municipality of Kailali district have been dreaming of a concrete bridge for 12 years. The locals are hopeful the once the construction of the motorable bridge gets complete, they will no longer have to pay the money just to cross a river.

The local residents of this municipality have to pay money to cross the Kandra and other rivers.

"One has to pay Rs 30 per day just to cross the river to visit the municipality for daily work. That means, an individual has to pay Rs 900 per month only to cross the river," said Rupak Saud, a local.

He says that the locals will have to suffer until a concrete bridge comes into operation. Saud says that the municipality is giving them trouble by collecting money for crossing a river.

He added that the construction company that was awarded the contract to build a bridge is making profit by delaying the construction work.

Big vehicles are made to cross the river instead of using the under-construction bridge. Another local Bhojraj Kafle says that the contractors in collusion with the local authorities collect money from vehicles while crossing the river.

“It has been more than a decade since the construction of a concrete bridge over the Kandra River started. The middlemen are the reason why the bridge has not been built on time. There are people who collect hundreds of thousands of rupees annually in the name of river contracts," he says, "Otherwise, what is the reason that local stakeholders are not interested in the construction of the bridge?"

The distance between Tikapur and Dhangadhi via the Postal Highway is 75 kilometers. Traveling through Mahendra Highway (East-West Highway) takes a little longer.

Bintiram Chaudhury of Tikapur argues that the Postal Highway cannot  be used right now due to the lack of a concrete bridge over the Kandra River. He said that he has to live in Kailari Rural Municipality because of his job and he has to pay for river crossing while returning home once a week.

According to Chaudhary, the contractor says that they have paid money to the municipality to utilize the river under a contract.

Therefore, they have been charging the locals for crossing the river.

Bhajani Municipality has given Kandra River and its tributaries under a short-term contract. The contractor has been operating boats for fishing in the river. According to the municipality, the contract has been signed for one fiscal year and it has helped the municipality collect internal source of income.

Mayor Keval Chaudhary says that the situation where citizens have to pay money to cross the Kandra River will end within this year.

He said that the construction of a motorable bridge over the Kandra River along the Postal Highway is in the final stage and will come into operation in a few months. -- RSS