Bardia. The risk of sinking investment has increased as the government is unable to pay even a little attention to the projects in which it has invested crores of rupees.
Due to government neglect, the bridge built at Sattighat in Rajapur, which connects Bardia and Kailali under the East-West Postal Highway, is at risk. The spans (pillars) of the bridge are broken and the gap has increased.
When the water level in the Karnali river rises during the rainy season, there is talk that the Sattighat bridge is at risk and that embankments and spans should be added. However, as the water level decreases, those things suddenly freeze. When the water level in the Karnali river is low, the government should show caution to save the Sati bridge, but when the river is sleeping, the concerned bodies also sleep.
According to Rukmani Chaudhary, a resident of Rajapur 4, there is a growing concern that the 531-meter-long bridge, which was built at a cost of 450 million rupees under the development budget of the Nepal government, will be swept away by floods.
The wire netting of the embankment built along with the last pillar of the Satti bridge connecting Lumbini province and Sudurpaschim province is getting eroded every year. As the water has started flowing in the Karnali river towards Rajapur area, the danger of the bank of the bridge being washed away has increased.
As the water level rises, the river banks are eroded from the bottom and the traffic through the big holes is also stopped. Rajendra Kumar Vaishya, a resident of Rajapur 4, complains that even when the bridge built by Rasuwa JV Construction Pvt.
Due to the low number of spans during the construction of the bridge, the bridge has been damaged many times. Locals have been asking for early attention to protect the bridge worth crores of investment. Locals are worried that the bridge, which is a bridge between Bardia and Kailali, will collapse between the first and second span towards Rajapur and the bridge itself will become crooked.
Chief District Officer of Bardia, Narayan Prasad Risal, said that the Karnali River Control Project is trying to save the bridge from danger by embanking it.
Due to the need to add a pillar on the eastern Rajapur side of the bridge, the Satti bridge was at risk of river erosion when the embankment overflowed.
It is necessary for the relevant authorities to pay attention to the bridge in order not to cause more damage and to make it durable.