The government has cancelled the contracts for three long-stalled infrastructure projects in Rautahat after repeated deadline extensions failed to bring the work to completion. The cancelled projects are the Lamaha Khola bridge on the Chandranigahapur-Gaur road, the Laukaha Khola bridge on the Chapur-Sukdev Chowk-Laukaha road section, and road upgrading on the Dhansar-Bagmati section of the Mahendra Highway. Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal said the projects will now move forward through a new process.
Three projects affected
The government’s decision covers two bridge contracts and one road-upgrading contract. The Lamaha Khola bridge is part of the Chandranigahapur-Gaur road, while the Laukaha Khola bridge is planned along the Chapur-Sukdev Chowk-Laukaha road section. The third project concerns upgrading the Dhansar-Bagmati section of the Mahendra Highway.
All three projects had remained stalled despite repeated extensions to their deadlines. The cancellations mark a change in approach after those extensions did not result in completion. The projects have not been described as completed or abandoned; rather, the minister said work is to proceed through a new process.
The affected schemes involve separate locations and types of infrastructure, but they share the same immediate outcome: their existing contract agreements have been cancelled. The decision therefore applies both to bridge construction on two road corridors and to upgrading a section of the country’s Mahendra Highway.
New process to take the work forward
Lamsal said the government would take the three stalled projects forward through a new process. His statement signals that the work is expected to continue under a different arrangement following the cancellation of the existing agreements. The information provided does not specify the form or timetable of that process, or when construction is expected to resume.
The cancellation follows the failure of repeated deadline extensions to complete the projects. Instead of granting further extensions under the cancelled agreements, the government has opted to change the route through which the work will proceed. The minister’s statement identifies a new process as the next step, but does not set out additional details about how it will be carried out.
For the Lamaha Khola and Laukaha Khola bridges, the next stage concerns work on the respective road sections where the structures are planned. For the Dhansar-Bagmati project, it concerns upgrading the relevant section of the Mahendra Highway. No separate schedule or project-specific implementation details were provided in the summary of the decision.
What is known about the decision
The government’s action is limited to the contracts for the three named projects. The stated reason is that repeated extensions failed to complete the work, and the stated next step is to move the projects forward through a new process. The minister’s remarks do not provide further details about the replacement arrangements.
The decision brings the existing agreements to an end while leaving the future delivery of the bridge and road works to the new process. The projects remain identified by their locations and road sections: Lamaha Khola on Chandranigahapur-Gaur, Laukaha Khola on Chapur-Sukdev Chowk-Laukaha, and the Dhansar-Bagmati stretch of the Mahendra Highway. Further information on the process and timing will be needed to clarify how and when work on each project will resume.
