Construction of 1.6 km stretch underway

KATHMANDU: The 5.3 km Dhobikhola corridor road linking Chabahil ring road to Bagmati river remains incomplete seven years after its construction began, thanks to lack of coordination among the authorities concerned.

Dhobikhola Corridor Improvement Project under Kathmandu Valley City Development Committee, which commenced in 2002, should have been completed by 2008, concerned officials said. “Construction of

only 1.6 km of the road is underway,” said Binod Khadka, public relations officer for the project.

Khadka further added that the project got delayed because of the lack of coordination among stakeholders.

The project worth Rs 2.58 billion is a joint venture between Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, the DCIP and Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

As envisaged, KMC had

the responsibility of land-pooling and paying compensation, the ministry of

funding the project and the locals of contributing to the project. Khadka accused the

metropolis of washing its hands of the project on December 17, which the metropolis denies.

“We were removed from the project,” said Devendra Dongol, senior planner, KMC. “We don’t know what they are doing.” Both the ministry and DCIP hold KMC’s statement untrue. “This is not true,” said

Khadka. “KMC surveyed

the banks of the river, delimited borders, widened the section from Chabahil to Handigaon and bore the managerial cost.”

As surveyed by JICA in 1993, the project plans to minimise traffic jams in

the city. The project

would also be crucial in checking river pollution by constructing treatment plants, along with a well-managed drainage system.

According to DCIP, banks of Dhobikhola will be 32 m wide, including 9 m road with drainage and 23 m of organised land. “We plan to manage the banks acquiring the land from locals and giving it back to them in a developed state. But the project is in limbo,” said Khadka.

Khadka said the ministry released only Rs 10 million last fiscal and Rs 19 million this fiscal. “The ministry never put it on priority,” he added. “As a result, locals have not shown much

interest in contributing

to the project.”

Umakanta Jha, secretary, MoPPW, however, said they were ready to provide budget if the project work is halted any time. “We have limited resources but we will allocate necessary budget,” he added.