The construction of the basic hospital in Devghat Rural Municipality has exceeded its deadline and remains incomplete. The project, which began on November 30, 2020, in Devghat Rural Municipality-5, was supposed to be finished by July 2023, but the deadline has passed without completion. Engineer Tirtha Dhungana of Devghat Rural Municipality mentioned that the construction period was initially extended until July 2023 because, during the original contract period, only the pillar lifting work had been completed.
Engineer Tirtha Dhungana informed us that only the initial slope was completed by raising the hospital pillars, and no further work was being done. After several requests from Devghat Rural Municipality, the slope work was cleared in the second week of February. However, Dhungana noted that the construction workers did not work after completing the gradient work. When KP Sharma Oli became Prime Minister in 2020, the government introduced a policy to build at least 5-bed hospitals at all local levels nationwide. As part of this initiative, it was decided to construct a 10-bed hospital in Devghat Rural Municipality. To facilitate the construction of the hospital, the land previously occupied by the office of Devghat Rural Municipality Ward No. 5 and the Devghat Health Post was relocated. The foundation stone for the 10-bed basic hospital was laid on November 30, 2020, by Krishna Kumar Shrestha Kisan, who was the Member of Parliament for Tanahun-1 at the time. Additionally, the then federal government had committed to allocate Rs 10,8500000 for the construction of the hospital.
An agreement was signed in April 2021 with Roshan-Shiva Shakti JV Construction Company for the construction of the hospital for Rs 7,00,0000. However, when the building was not completed on time, the construction company requested a two-year extension, proposing a new deadline in 2023. Engineer Tirtha Dhungana informed that the municipality, however, granted an extension of only one year. Yal Bahadur Gurung, the former Chairperson of Devghat Rural Municipality-5, emphasized that the construction of a crucial facility like a hospital should not be halted. Gurung mentioned that due to the delay in the hospital’s construction, the hope of Devghat residents that they would no longer need to travel to Bharatpur in Chitwan for basic health services would not be fulfilled immediately.