What’s broken

Kathmandu, September 4:

Within two months of construction, a 100-metre long road at Ghattekulo has started having potholes in it. Ghattekulo locals had constructed the 10-feet wide blacktopped road from Laligurans Marga to Arun Marga on the first week of July.

Earlier, the road was blacktopped some six years ago, but was totally damaged within a year of its construction. The road used to be swampy throughout the rainy season and had big potholes, making the road too bumpy for vehicles to pass on.

Under the road, a 20-meter long sewer was also constructed and a pothole has formed just above the sewer. According to contractor Santa Bir Lama, soil has eroded downwards due to lack of proper compression after digging the sewer. He added that a big roller was required for proper compression, but the road was too small to take the roller in, and the labourers did not work properly with hands. The locals, under the initiation of Nirmala Pokharel, a local and a lecturer at Tribhuvan University, formed the Arun Marga Consumers’ Committee. The committee coordinated with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and with 60 per cent financial support from the KMC, the road was constructed in July.

Who is looking into it?

We had no idea that potholes would be formed so soon. However, the road was constructed immediately after constructing sewer; if the road was constructed one year later, the potholes would never have formed. The contractor has promised to make it as soon as possible.

If you have anything broken or fixed in your neighbourhood, please inform us at

thtwatch@thehimalayantimes.com