‘Blacktopping of roads to wait till the rains end’

Kathmandu, July 25

The road repair in Kathmandu Valley — filling pits with gravel and other base materials — seems to be a stop gap arrangement, as frequent rainfall is preventing blacktopping of roads.

According to Division II Office Chief of Department of Roads Dev Raj Tamang, pits and potholes have been filled only with gravel and other base materials. “We cannot blacktop roads during the rainy season,” he said. “Pits and potholes filled with gravel have to be refilled again every three weeks,” Tamang added.

“For blacktopping, we need to wait for at least 24 hours after filling the road with gravel before it completely dries, which is next to impossible during monsoon,” Giri Bahadur Sunar, resettlement expert, Melamchi Water Supply Project, told THT. According to him, Melamchi water project still has to fill pits in many places in the valley and dig many others to ensure smooth water supply across the valley.

Tamang said the project is yet to fill pits on several stretches, including Balaju by-pass road that leads to Nuwakot, roads from Lainchaur to Amrit Science College, Tripureshwor to Kesharmahal, Kesharmahal to Durbar Marg, Chabahil to Jorpati, Maitighar to Tribhuvan International Airport, Jai Nepal Hall to Kalopul, Kalopul to Chabahil, Sano Gaucharan to Chabahil Ganesh Mandir, and roads in Naxal, New Baneshwor and Old Baneshwor.

According to Sunar, the project plans to dig roads at 26 places for effective water distribution.

With only five days remaining before the 15-day deadline set by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to repair all roads in Kathmandu Valley ends, it will be a tall order to even fill all the pits with gravel. Blacktopping has to wait till the end of rainy season.