Rastriya Swatantra Party MPs Raise Concerns Over Development Project Delays and Administrative Inefficiencies

Kathmandu. In a meeting of the Infrastructure Development Committee, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) MPs drew the government's attention to administrative delays in development construction, lack of inter-agency coordination, and problems faced by the general public due to projects. Speaking at the meeting held on Friday, they mentioned that the state has incurred huge financial losses due to the non-completion of national pride projects on time and demanded action against responsible officials. MPs raised the issues of the 'Single Window Clearance' system to remove administrative complexities, mandatory joint surveys before road expansion, and fair compensation for those affected by transmission lines as major points. In the meeting, RSP MP Engineer Deepak Kumar Shah demanded an impartial investigation into the reasons for the non-completion of national pride projects on time and bringing the responsible officials under the legal purview. He emphasized the need to implement a single-point approval system with a time limit to resolve administrative bottlenecks. Accusing the Forest Department's negligence for halting important projects like Dhalkebar, he said that action should be taken against employees obstructing work that is among the government's 100-day priorities. Discussing the problems seen in electricity supply, he informed that there are up to 13 power trippings daily at the Bulbule distribution center. 'A one-day delay in a project causes a loss of more than 1 crore rupees to the state and about 4 billion rupees in a year,' said MP Shah, 'Who will take responsibility for such serious financial losses?' He questioned the inability to borrow and work for system improvement despite money accumulating in banks. Proposing the concept of 'Reverse Engineering' in project management, he suggested focusing on completing projects on time by working in three shifts rather than cutting staff. Another MP, Shriram Neupane, proposed that joint surveys of all infrastructures including electricity, drinking water, telecom, and sewers should be conducted before starting road construction. He emphasized that when approving road projects, a technical plan for relocating electricity poles and the source of the necessary budget should be confirmed beforehand. 'It should be clear at the beginning of the project who will spend and how the work will be done,' said MP Neupane, 'Before starting road construction, a joint survey of all infrastructures including electricity, drinking water, telecom, and sewers should be conducted and necessary details collected.' He stated that the responsible body, officials, and procedures for pole relocation should be determined in advance. For a long-term solution, he suggested adopting a policy of undergrounding electricity lines where possible in areas where new roads are to be constructed or expanded. Similarly, MP Pradip Bisht drew the government's attention to the harassment of local residents of Chandragiri Municipality-8 due to the transmission line of the Kulekhani Hydropower Project. He said that although the 66 KV of Kulekhani 1 and 132 KV double circuit transmission line of Kulekhani 2 were initially planned to be routed through forest areas, they were later routed through the middle of settlements. Currently, more than 1500 ropanis of land belonging to about 1500 households in that area are affected by the transmission line. Recalling the incident in fiscal year 2077/78 where wires were forcibly pulled using security personnel, MP Bisht said, 'Even though the land is very expensive, locals cannot use it as collateral in banks due to it falling under the transmission line, and there are problems with inheritance division and sales.' He emphasized that while the state develops, it must also protect the property and rights of the people, noting that the municipality has also stopped the installation of drinking water and electricity in the affected houses.