DOLAKHA, Feb 26: Locals of Dolakha protesting against the delay in work on the Charikot-Khadichaur road stretch, obstructed the movement of government vehicles on Tuesday. The road connects Dolakha with Kathmandu.
A struggle committee formed by the locals obstructed the movement of government vehicles at district headquarters Charikot for an hour. Work on upgrading the road section, which started some five years ago, is still nowhere within sight of completion.
Locals obstructed vehicular movement from 9.30am to 10.30am on Tuesday and also took 20 government vehicles under their control. According to Chiranjibi Maskey, coordinator of the struggle committee, they returned the vehicle keys only after their protest action.
Enraged locals hold symbolic protest against delay in road repa...
“The struggle committee took control of the vehicles to pressure the government to complete the road work,” he said.
Resham Bohora, acting police chief in Dolakha district, confirmed that the protesters returned the vehicle keys after their protest.
“If the government doesn't compel the construction company to upgrade the road stretch promptly, the struggle committee will block off the district border,” Deep Sankhar Chaulagain, a member of the committee said, adding that the protests would be intensified in the coming days.
On Sunday, police arrested five protesters in Sindhupalchowk district. They were on their way to padlock the office of the Lamasaghu-Jiri Road Project when they were arrested by a team from Area Police Office, Barhabishe. According to the contract, the construction company should have completed work on the 55-kilomter road stretch two years ago.
The project had signed an agreement with two Indian construction companies – Himanchal Construction Company and Gauri Parbati Construction – for the road upgrade. The project is being carried out with financial support from the Exim Bank of India.
As per the agreement signed on June 3, 2015, the construction should have been completed by October 17, 2017.
