Kathmandu, March 3:

The road section between the Babarmahal bridge at Buddhanagar and Setopul is in a very bad shape for long. People have been using this dusty road along the Dhobikhola River as an alternative route for many years.

The road was opened 13 years ago on the initiation of a local who opened the track for his personal use. Later the Department of Roads widened the road and gravelled it for alternative use, according to the locals. “Some two-kilometre section of the road is in a bad shape. The road becomes dusty during the dry season and muddy during the rainy season. This is largely affecting our business,” said Hit Bahadur Pulami, a resident of Setopul. Pulami runs a grocery near Setopul.

“Though the road falls under the Dhobikhola Corridor Improvement Project (DCIP), nothing has been done to upgrade it,” he said, adding, “We didn’t bother to maintain the road because it was under the responsibility of DCIP and also because the government had already allocated budget for the purpose.” He also said the locals would have already blacktopped the road had it not been under DCIP. However, Division Road Office, Kathmandu, under the Department of Roads, maintained that the road was not on its priority. The Office said it could do nothing unless the government prioritised it.