Kathmandu, July 6:

Construction and maintenance work in many roads of the Valley have halted due to lack of bitumen, officials in the division of the Department of Roads said.

“All work has stalled because the sole distributor of bitumen in Nepal has not cared to provide it,” said Sunil Poudyal, engineer at the divisional road office of Kathmandu. Besides, rainfall has also disturbed road building.

Chief of the Kathmandu road office Pradeep Raj Panta said DoR has been facing the lack of bitumen since long because of the supplier’s monopoly. “We cannot finish our work because he does not supply on time,” he said, adding that while everything else was ready for completing it was the lack of bitumen that was holding up the work.

Incomplete projects include the three-kilometer long Pepsi Cola-Manohara road section where a 500-metre stretch is yet to be finished while only a 500-metre stretch of the two-km long Golfutar-Mandikhatar road has been completed. The two-kilometre long service road from Gongabu Bus Park to Samakhushi Chowk hasn’t begun due to lack of bitumen.

Other such projects include the 1.9 km Thamel-Samakhushi road section, the 1.4 km New Baneswor Chowk-Sankhamool bridge section and the 400-metre New Baneswor-Anamnagar section. Gravelling and basic work is complete but the roads could not be blacktopped, Poudyal said.

“At least Rs 4 crores of the Dor’s budget will be put in the freezer because of incomplete projects,” he said, adding that DoR faced the same problem last year.