Kathmandu, February 5:

Locals and commuters have been facing a tough time for the past six months as the road from Setopul to Ratopul, along the bank of Dhobikhola, has been in a dilapidated condition.

They have been facing inconvenience after the Department of Roads (DoR) dismantled the road section, pitched long ago, to re-construct it in a better way.

As vehicles plying on the road kick up dust, people residing nearby the road have been hit. This has lead to pollution and may lead to various lung diseases. “Kids of our school are suffering from cough and cold due to the dust that get kicked up from the road”, said Sudip Sharma, principal of Gopal Sikchhya Sadan.

Locals have been demanding authorities concerned to blacktop the 400-meter-long road, but their demand was ignored.

“We went to the Department of Road (DoR) twice to pile pressure to repair the road. The DoR officer said Rs 4 million has been allocated for the road and needs the approval of the Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee (KVTDC) to begin repair work,” Sharma added.

When no signs of maintenance seemed in sight, locals, to attract the attention of the authority concerned, dug up the road to prevent the vehicles from plying. “The DoR damaged the road on September 11 after it received a complaint to repair the road,” said Krishna Thapa, a local shopkeeper. “Authorities concerned failed to repair the road, forcing us to halt traffic by digging up the road. Only motorbikes and bicycles are plying on the road now and their movement will also be blocked if the road does not get repaired soon,” he added.

A microbus driver,

Brishman Lama, said vehicles have been facing difficulty after the locals blocked the way.