Kathmandu, March 5

Kathmandu Metropolitan City is facing difficulty to operate broomer machine on inner roads of the capital city. Potholes on inner roads are yet to be mended and the situation has posed challenge to operate broomers to clean roads.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City office has been operating seven broomer machines for a year in a bid to realise its plan of dust-free Kathmandu. But results are seen only on the major roads. According to KMC Environment Department Chief Hari Kumar Shrestha, the campaign to make Kathmandu dust-free has been challenged due to potholes on auxiliary roads. Use of broomer machines on main roads continues. Main roads generally do not feature potholes. Though their present condition is not satisfactory, condition of the valley roads has improved.

Improvement of valley roads is one of the priorities of the government and in the past 100 days, 9,500 potholes were mended.

However, condition of inner and auxiliary roads has yet to be improved.

The government aims to blacktop 85 kilometres of road in Kathmandu valley till the end of current fiscal year.

KMC said mending of small roads had yet to fall under the priority of authorities concerned and it had been facing difficulty cleaning those roads with the help of broomer machines, claiming however that dust pollution in the major roads had significantly reduced.