BY RAJAN RAWAT,Humla, June 7: Simkot, the district headquarters of Humla district, will not be connected to the national road network in the current fiscal year as well. It is the only district headquarters in the country which is not connected with the national road network.
It has been confirmed that Simkot will not be connected to the national road network in the current fiscal year as the construction of a bridge over the Dojam Karnali River in Kharphu of Kharpunath Rural Municipality under Karnali Corridor will not be completed this year.
Shiva Raj Sharma, head of the District Coordination Committee, said that although the government aimed to connect Simkot with the national road network by the end of the current fiscal year, it was now impossible. He informed that the construction of the bridge over the Dojam Karnali River could not be completed.
However, Kharpunath Rural Municipality is connected to the national road network.
He said, “The construction work of the bridge has slowed down for the past one year. Meanwhile, the construction work was halted for approximately eight months during the initial phase after a hot water source appeared at the eastern side where pillars would be placed. Still, it's uncertain whether construction would proceed at the location where hot water emerged or not.”
He informed that locals had demanded a Bailey Bridge for immediate relief. However, they could not proceed with the construction of Bailey Bridge as the ministry and department had not provided a budget for it, he added.
According to Sharma, Simkot will not be connected to the national road network for the next four years if the Bailey bridge is not constructed over the Dojam Karnali River.
Bel Bahadur Nepali, head of the Hilsa Simkot Road Project, also confirmed that Simkot would not be connected to the national road network in the current fiscal year as they did not see any possibilities to fix a Bailey Bridge anytime soon.
He admitted that construction work of the bridge had not been accelerated.
At present, construction work of the road section from Dulli Kuna to Lalibagar cutting through Chare Bhir under the Karnali Corridor being carried out by the Nepali Army has reached its final phase. Transportation service is being operated smoothly for four hours a day along this road section.
Now vehicles carrying goods along the Karnali Corridor can reach only up to Dojam Karnali in Kharpu. From there the goods have to be transported by helicopters and carried over the river using cables, resulting in additional costs. However, this method is possible only when the water level is low.
