Karnali Province Falls Short of Road Blacktopping, Bridge Construction Targets

Surkhet. Karnali Province Government has blacktopped 53 kilometers of road in the first 9 months of the current fiscal year. The Province's Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development had set a target of blacktopping 161 kilometers of road across the province in the current fiscal year. Approximately one-third of the target has been achieved by the end of the third quarterly review. Not just road blacktopping, this ministry has also failed to achieve its targets in other statistics. How many kilometers of road blacktopped in which district? This year, the province government had set a target of blacktopping 59.7 kilometers of road in Surkhet alone, but only 20.28 kilometers of work has been completed so far. In Dailekh, with a target of 10 kilometers blacktopping, 6 kilometers have been completed; in Salyan, with a target of 15 kilometers, 6.50 kilometers; in Rukum West, with a target of 20 kilometers, only 1.20 kilometers; and in Jajarkot, with a target of 3 kilometers, only 1.20 kilometers of road have been blacktopped, according to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development. Similarly, in Dolpa, with a target of 2 kilometers, 0.13 kilometers; in Jumla, with a target of 2.50 kilometers, 0.85 kilometers; and in Mugu, with a target of 4 kilometers, 0.60 kilometers of road have been blacktopped. In Humla and Kalikot, road blacktopping work has not even started yet. Although the target was to blacktop 5 kilometers in Kalikot and 0.80 kilometers in Humla this year, the road blacktopping construction work has not started in 9 months, said Ramesh Subedi, spokesperson for the ministry. Delays in Gravel to Bridge Construction Work Not just road blacktopping, the ministry has also not been able to perform as expected in works such as gravel/clause-smith, opening new tracks, upgrading, drain construction, and bridge construction. This year, the ministry's target was to construct 139 kilometers of gravel road, open 184 kilometers of new tracks, and upgrade 96 kilometers of roads and construct drains. In the 9-month period, 61 kilometers of gravel road and 113 kilometers of new roads have been excavated. In the category of drain construction and upgrading, more than the target (100 kilometers) progress has been achieved. According to ministry officials, while road blacktopping is a priority in hilly districts like Surkhet and Dailekh, new road networks need to be expanded in the Himalayan districts. Road networks have not yet been connected in most parts of the Himalayan districts. The province government had set a target to expand 5 kilometers of gravel road and 40 kilometers of new road network in Humla this year. In the 9-month period, no gravel work has been done, and only 16 kilometers of new roads have been excavated. In Dolpa, out of a plan to expand 5 kilometers of gravel road and 35 kilometers of new road network, only 0.80 kilometers of gravel and 14 kilometers of new roads have been excavated so far. In other districts, the work of upgrading and blacktopping roads that were already constructed is more than new road construction. However, officials say that work in those districts has also not been done as expected. There are infrastructure development offices in every district under the ministry. Chief Minister Yamlal Kandel had previously signed performance agreements with the heads of those offices, the ministry's secretary, and ministers in August. However, Chief Minister Kandel is dissatisfied as the work has not been done according to the commitment made in the agreement. Karnali Not Free from Tuis, Road Bridge Situation Unchanged The province government had announced Karnali free from tuis within this year. A ministry employee says that this work is impossible within this fiscal year. 'What is the use of just announcing? There is neither sufficient budget nor has the work been done,' said the employee, 'Details of dozens of tuis have come from the districts. Work that needs to be studied on them has also been delayed.' The province government plans to build suspension bridges in places with tuis. Accordingly, the target is to build 63 suspension bridges this year, but only 26 have been built so far. Similarly, out of a plan to build 44 road bridges, work has been completed on only 9. Out of 51 public buildings, 7 have been constructed, and out of a target to build 232 houses under Janata Awas, only 30 have been built. Progress of Most Projects Unsatisfactory, Burden of Multiannual Projects This year, 11.0422 billion rupees have been allocated for the physical infrastructure sector of the province. 70 percent of this is limited to old projects carried forward from previous years. Only 30 percent of the budget has been allocated for new projects. According to the details provided by the ministry to Ratopati, 512 new projects including roads and bridges were selected for this ministry for the current fiscal year. Although all projects were supposed to be implemented by the end of October, some projects have not yet been implemented. On the other hand, the progress of projects that have been ongoing since the past is also not satisfactory. Vice-Chairman of the Province Planning Commission, Suryanath Yogi, said that the progress of most road infrastructure projects is not satisfactory. 'The progress of a few projects is close to satisfactory, but the physical and financial progress of most projects is not satisfactory,' he said. Previously Blamed GeNext Movement, Now Iran War Ministry officials used to blame the GeNext movement on August 30 and 31 for the weak work progress. Now, they are arguing that due to the rise in petroleum prices in the market and the scarcity of construction materials caused by the Iran war, infrastructure works have been affected. Ramesh Subedi, spokesperson and CDE of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development, said that due to the Iran war, the deadline for most road infrastructure projects planned to be completed this year has had to be extended. He said that due to the war, the price of petroleum products has increased, and even with the increased price, there is a scarcity of road blacktopping and other construction materials. According to him, under the RCIP project, the target was to blacktop 39 kilometers of road this year. These were about to be completed, but they have been stopped due to the impact of the Iran war. Out of the target to blacktop 39 kilometers, only 16 kilometers of progress has been achieved so far. The physical ministry estimates that only 10-16 kilometers of road will be blacktopped in the remaining 3 months. How many kilometers of road has the Province Government excavated from its establishment to date? According to data received by Ratopati, since the establishment of the province government, the province government has blacktopped 302.84 kilometers of road across the province. Similarly, 774 kilometers of gravel road and 3,276 kilometers of new road network have been connected so far. The ministry has data showing that the province government has constructed 745 kilometers of road upgrading and drain construction.