E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, AUG 17 -

The road that leads westward from Shankhamul chowk at New Baneshwor is hardly negotiable. Pocked with potholes all over, the road is notorious for a bumpy ride. Even worse are the muddy paths where oozing sewage and uncovered manholes greet the eye.

The messy road exemplifies the sorry state of many other roads in Kathmandu Valley. Helpless traffic police are appaled at the dilapidated roads. The deterioration of roads leads to an increase in accidents, said SP Jagat Man Shrestha, spokesman for Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD).

Shrestha said two-wheelers were more susceptible to accidents as potholed roads cause imbalance. Some places such as Bhatbhateni, Singha Durbar and Naxal are accident prone areas due to the bad road conditions, he said.

Four wheelers face a similar ordeal. “It is very difficult to drive on wet roads, let alone pothole-pocked  roads,” said microbus driver Bikram Rai. “A couple of days back, I saw a collision between a car and a motorcycle when a pothole on an incline of the road was left unmanaged near Shantinagar.”

Every monsoon, rainwater collects in small puddles on the road eroding the blacktopped surface. Smriti Shrestha, a scooty-rider, said, “The problem worsens when accumulated water on waterlogged roads during the rainy season conceal potholes.” She added that most of the potholes were risky as they are deep.

“Just this morning I almost met with an accident when I rode through a deep crack in the road.

I couldn’t see the pothole because of the vehicle in front of me,” she said. “The road from Pulchowk to Gwarko, for me, is the most risky one.”

Traffic police personnel Ram Chandra Pathak deployed at Jamal said, “When drivers drive fast, they can hardly apply the brakes to control their vehicles. So, when they come across a pothole, they endanger the other vehicles also in their path. The most accident-prone areas are the pothole dotted congested roads inside Thamel.”

“While we carry out regular maintenance it is not possible to repair the roads efficiently because we need to negotiate with the traffic police and public transport sector,” said Gopal Khadka, chief of the Department of Roads (DoR), Kathmandu division. According to him, DoR is working along Ramshahpath at present. “Road Board Nepal is aiding us in the maintenance of roads,” he said.

DoR is responsible for the maintenance of roads inside Kathmandu Valley, mainly along the Ring Road and other major road networks that cover areas, including Tripureshwor, Jamal, Narayan Gopal Chowk, Ratna Park and Durbar Marg. Other inner road networks are cared for by Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

Suman Prasad Sharma, director of Project Implementation Directorate under Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), said, “The process of putting pipelines creates a mess on roads, but we have plans to repair the roads.” He said roads were being dug up for laying pipelines in Baneshwor, Kusunti and Kalopul.

Posted on: 2011-08-17 09:22

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