Rainfall halts filling of potholes in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, July 23

Torrential rain this afternoon in Kathmandu affected filling of potholes and pits being undertaken by authorities concerned.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had on July 16 given the Department of Roads and other authorities concerned 15 days to fix the roads in Kathmandu Valley.

According to Mukunda Parajuli, chief of Division- 2,  DoR, his office made all efforts to fix roads from  Chabahil to Jorpati area  and Lajimpat to Maharajgunj  today. “But we had to halt our work repeatedly as it kept raining after 3:00pm,” he said. Roads from Chabahil to Jorpati, one of the busiest roads in Kathmandu, is riddled with potholes and pits.

Kathmandu lawmakers for the last one year have been demanding that Chabahil roads be repaired. The lawmakers had also demanded action against contractors who were not completing the repair work on time. “But the root cause is the leaking water pipes laid under the roads many years ago,” Parajuli

added.

According to him, drinking water pipes were leaking at more than 15 places on the Chabahil-Jorpati road. “Our conclusion is that the old pipes cannot be repaired, so they should be replaced with new ones,” he added.

Parajuli also clarified that the pits on the inner roads of Kathmandu, which fall under the jurisdiction of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, would not be filled by the Departments of Roads. KMC Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya has said that his office would not repair the roads under its jurisdiction during monsoon.

Locals of the roads that go from Gopi Krishna Chowk to Bhrikuti Chowk vented their ire at the DoR for not fixing the roads.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had directed the authorities concerned to fix the roads in the Valley after a schoolgirl Binita Phuyal drowned in a pit at Nepaltar and another schoolgirl Satya Sapkota fell into a pit at Samakhushi. Luckily Sapkota was rescued by the locals.

Meanwhile, Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament also instructed the authorities concerned today to increase the pace of repair work in Kathmandu. The PAC also told them to complete Tripureswhor- Naghdhunga road expansion as soon as possible.