Locals obstruct road sector at Gokarna and Sundarijal

KATHMANDU, August 9

Locals across Gokarna-Sundarijal road section in Kathmandu disrupted the road for three hours from 8:00am to 11:00am on Sunday, demanding that the authority upgrade the road.

The locals say that the road section has been ruined by big goods-ferrying trucks belonging to Melamchi Drinking Water Project. Add to that, the lackadaisical attitude of the Project towards the issue worsened the condition of roads.

Due to on Sunday’s traffic disruption, officer-bearers and students were hit hard.  “Due to lack of upgradation of the road, locals and passerby have had to suffer puddles along the road during rainy season and dust when the sun shines,” said Shree Krishna Jyoti, one of the locals and member of a Municipal political mechanism.

“Not only that, due to the bad condition of the road, the risk of road accidents have also increased significantly,” added Jyoti.

The three-hour strike was initiated by a local club, Five Star Club and supported by  locals. The Club, in order to pile pressure on the concerned authority, will disrupt the road for four hours tomorrow, informed Kiran KC, chairperson of the Club. Such symbolic strike will continue for uncertain period until the road is upgraded, KC mentioned.

Locals commented that although they had repeatedly drawn the attention of the Department of Road (DoR) towards the issue, DoR assigned the Melamchi Project to take appropriate action. The Project, on the other hand, has been taking forever to do the needful.

Refuting the allegation of indifference, Ghanashyam Bhattarai, Executive Director of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee, explained that the Committee would have already upgraded the road, but since DoR introduced the expansion of the road from the existing eight metres to 22, that had caused the delay The committee will fix the road once DoR completes the expansion.