Kathmandu Post

Editorial»

Demolition drive

FEB 06 -
Baburam Bhattarai, give us petrol! Give us electricity! Give us water! Give us gas! If not, give us your resignation!” reads a placard held up by a man outside the Kathmandu District Administration Office in protest of the road expansion drive PM Bhattarai initiated. While the message is rather harsh, it is clear that the people are frustrated, and the lack of basic amenities is enough to protest every decision that this government takes. The people’s sentiment is understandable. No one will argue that Kathmandu’s roads need some work, including widening in some parts. It is also true that many of the buildings, whose demolition is being protested against, were built on public property and the state has every right to demolish them. However, in a scenario where there is a scarcity of basic necessities, it is not surprising that people are angry. Even those whose houses and businesses are not being demolished daily condemn the government. But those whose houses or businesses are going to come down at a time when it seems the government’s priorities should be aimed at providing relief, instead of going on what is perceived as a demolition spree, are doubly unhappy with the state of affairs. 

Even in the most stable and prosperous of times, a government initiative to widen roads at the cost of many people’s hard-earned assets, unlawful as they may be, was going to be difficult. And for this bold decision, the PM and his government deserve some acclaim. It has taken on a necessary task that prior governments never dared to. Realistically, road expansion in Kathmandu is an urgent necessity. But the fact is also that expanding the roads will not cure all traffic woes — it requires a complete overhaul of the Kathmandu Valley’s transportation system, of which expanding roads is just one aspect.  In addition, the general stagnation of politics and the inability of the government to provide basic necessities mean the process is much more difficult. Whereas normally, those unaffected by the demolitions might even support the government drive, they are less likely to do so currently. This is because the initiative seems like a distraction considering the pressing everyday problems.

One way in which the government could have approached the road expansion drive would have been to address both destruction and reconstruction simultaneously. For example, if only one or two areas were focused on at a time, followed immediately by their reconstruction and renovation before moving on would have delivered more tangible results. In turn, this would have eased the sentiments of the Kathmandu citizenry who are at present unsure about the results of the road expansion drive. Besides, considering the span of each recent government, it is not certain that the areas which have been widened will be properly reconstructed before the next government takes office. But for the many stretches of Kathmandu’s roads which have already seen destruction, the government will somehow have to convince the people that the long-term gains will outweigh the short-term agony road expansion is causing.

Posted on: 2012-02-07 08:03

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