Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today inaugurated a bridge over the Rapti River in Rapti Valley, capital of Lumbini Province. PM Oli reached the venue at Sisahaniya via a Nepali Army helicopter. Chief Minister of Lumbini Province Shankar Pokharel, ministers, members of the Provincial Assembly, Chief District Officer Jaya Narayan Acharya, high-ranking officials of security agencies and local people welcomed PM Oli. The PM is scheduled to address a public gathering at Lalmatiya of Rapti Rural Municipality-2 following the inaugural programme.
This is the second longest RCC bridge of the country. It is 860 metres long and 10.5 metres wide. It connects Sisahaniya of Rapti Rural Municipality and Mahadewa of Gadhawa Rural Municipality. The construction of the bridge has been completed four months before deadline. The bridge has been constructed at a cost of one billion rupees. It has now become easier for people to travel to and from Sisahaniya and Mahadeva in Deukhuri region with the construction of this bridge.
Prior to this, people used to travel by boat to cross the Rapti River and it was very risky during the rainy season when the river swelled. People of then Gobardiha Village Development Committee (VDC) and then Sisahaniya VDC will directly benefit with the construction of the bridge. Travel time has been reduced to 15 minutes after the construction of the bridge. Before it used to take one-and-a-half hours to travel by a vehicle from the area beyond the Rapti River. Then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had laid the foundation of the bridge on December 7, 2016.
Meanwhile, the bridge has also developed as a tourism destination with visitors from Dang and even other districts coming to see the country's second-longest bridge.
