Kathmandu, November 8

Seemingly endless road expansion works, potholes and damaged roads along the Bouddha-Jorpati road stretch have caused great inconvenience to commuters, especially the staff and patients at Jorpati-based Nepal Orthopedic Hospital.

According to the hospital, previously an ambulance picking up a patient from Chabahil would take approximately 10 minutes to return. However, after the road widening process began, the ambulance now takes two hours for the same journey.

“Today, if an ambulance is sent to Chabahil we can’t say when it will return. This has affected our work,” said Dr Anish Gyawali, orthopedic surgeon at the hospital, adding, “Neither the patients nor we are able to reach the hospital on time. Additionally, pollution and traffic jams along the stretch have made matters worse,” Dr Gyawali added.

According to the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, locals on their part are also obstructing the road expansion drive. “Locals are against the road expansion drive as they want to save their private property,” said Bhai Kaji Tiwari, development commissioner at KVDA.

Tiwari added that site clearance work had been halted during Dashain, Tihar and Chhath, but would begin soon after the festivals.

Meanwhile, the Department of Roads has announced that preparations are being made to the relocate electricity and telephone lines along the roadsides.

The expansion of Bouddha-Jorpati road section was expected to be completed by July 15, 2017, but till date, only about 15 to 20 per cent of the work on the expansion of Bouddha-Jorpati section has been completed so far. Considering the current pace, the directorate has said the the road expansion project was likely to miss the deadline.

The Kathmandu Valley Road Improvement Project had resumed expansion of 53 km of road segments, including Tripureshwor-Kalanki, Chabahil-Jorpati-Sankhu, Jorpati-Sundarijal, Lagankhel-Satdobato, Imadol-Siddhipur-Godawari, Karmanasa-Harisiddhi, Dholahiti-Sunakothi-Chapagaun and Nakkhu-Bhaisepati-Bungamati road stretches this year.

The Parliamentary Development Committee recently directed the government to expand and upgrade several road sections in Kathmandu Valley by the end of the current fiscal year.