By Tilachan Pande, Tamghash, June 15: The culvert under Madan Bhandari Highway was vandalised by the locals on July 3 last year saying that their houses and settlements were in danger because of it.

It has been almost a year since the hume pipe culvert was vandalised in Humichaur Jharna of Ishma Rural Municipality Ward No. 1 of that highway but no one has shown any interest in repairing it.

The police administration, which has passed through the area several times, also turned a blind eye to it, as did the Madan Bhandari Highway Planning Office, Tamghas. Even the municipality has neither shown interest in punishing the vandals nor in renovating it.

Local Ram Prasad Pandey said that they had vandalised the culvert as the settlement was about to be submerged and the field itself was turning into a bog.

"A big flood from above submerged the houses, and the fields were turned into bogs, so we destroyed it," he said.

Now that the rainy season has started, vehicles are facing many problems passing through the area. And stakeholders have urged the concerned authorities to repair the culvert immediately.

Meanwhile, Shashank Mishra, the Planning Office Chief, said that they were thinking of repairing and operating it immediately and that discussion were underway with the department to move forward with long-term planning.

When asked whether action would be taken against the vandals, he said it could only be decided after discussions with the chief district officer (CDO).

Meanwhile, Gulmi District CDO Rudra Devi Sharma said that they would move ahead after studying the details of the incident.

The 14-kilometer-long road from Chaldikhola, completed by SBA, Pacific, Sunil Samir JV on December 1, 2020, was paved at a cost of Rs 165.88 million. And the culvert under that road was constructed at a cost of Rs. 8,62,080, said Biwas Bastola, sub-engineer of the Planning Office, Tamghas.