Kathmandu Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya on Monday ruled out the repair of Capital potholes until the rainy season is over, saying such repair works carried out during monsoon won’t last long.
“Monsoon is still active and blacktopping roads and fixing potholes now will not be an effective move,” said Shakya at an interaction organised by the Consumers’ Welfare Protection Forum on “Role of Stakeholders to Solve the Problem of Traffic Issues” in the Capital on Monday.
“We are not going to misuse taxpayers’ money. There are innumerable potholes that are water-logged while the sewage needs to be improved. Construction materials that could have caused water-logging on the roads should be cleared first,” said Shakya.
Shakya’s statement comes a day after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s 15-day deadline to “fix all the potholes in the Capital” ended on Sunday.
Despite PM Deuba’s instruction to authorities, Kathmandu continues to have potholes in various places. The government, however, has claimed over 80 percent potholes have been fixed. Bijulibazaar, Gaurighat, Chabahil, Balkhu, Balkumari, Sitapaila, Thamel and Samakhusi among other places still have damaged roads and potholes.
According to Division Road Office, Kathmandu, it has worked only on 32 road section in the capital.
Most of the roads in Kathmandu have water leakage and sewage problem. Speaking at the programme, newly appointed chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, SSP Sarbendra Khanal, said the Kathmandu Metropolitan City should not wait for the monsoon to be over to repair roads.
“Due to potholes, muddy roads and dust, traffic police have been suffering a lot,” said Khanal.
He also called on all the stakeholders including the Department of Roads (DoR) to manage the budget and fix potholes.
“If all stakeholders work in tandem with proper coordination, the problem related to roads can be resolved,” he said.
Last month, a schoolgirl died after she was swept away by floods in Nepaltar. Another schoolgirl had fallen into a pit which she could not see due to floods in Samakhusi. She was rescued.
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