Kathmandu, September 19

The Department of Roads is set to instal traffic lights at various places along Ring Road in Kathmandu. Traffic lights installed by DoR six months ago had gone kaput within a few days.

Road Traffic Unit at  the DoR, a body responsible for installing traffic lights on roads wider than eight metres, will fix the old traffic lights dumped at various traffic police beats. Earlier also, the DoR with support from Metropolitan Traffic Police Division had tried to fix the same lights, stating they were introducing ‘smart traffic lights’, but in vain.

Only traffic lights at Baneshwor and Maharajgunj are working properly. Officials said this time they would not instal the same system, but a less complicated one.

Head of Road Traffic Unit at DoR Dip Barahi said since traffic lights were functioning properly at Baneshwor and Maharajgunj, they were confident that they could successfully operate the lights with a slight change at other places.

The DoR has chosen seven places — Padmodaya Mod, Bag Bazar, Kalimati, Tinkune, Old Baneshwor, Gausala and  Mitrapark — to instal traffic lights. The traffic lights will be installed at the cost of Rs 15 million, said the DoR. A research conducted by the DoR shows that 200 spots in Kathmandu valley needs to be connected with integrated traffic system for easy access of vehicles.

Around 1.1 million vehicles ply the Kathmandu roads daily. All these vehicles are managed manually by traffic police. The total length of the road in Kathmandu valley is 1,594.67 km.

Data from the DoR and MTPD show there were around 1.2 million vehicles in the country in the fiscal 2010-11. The number has crossed 2.9 million in the fiscal 2017-18. There are only four functioning pedestrian control lights and around 300 zebra crossings in Kathmandu.