By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar. 9: With each passing year, the problem of traffic congestion seems to aggravate in the Kathmandu Valley.
Against the backdrop of a rapidly increasing population, vehicle ownership in the valley has surged causing nasty jams and traffic holdups. To mitigate this issue and to divert vehicles away from the main lanes, several government agencies have been collaborating to build various corridor roads on the banks of Kathmandu’s rivers, namely Bagmati, Bishumati, Dhobikhola (Rudramati), Hanumante, Nakhkhu, Balkhu, Karmanasa, Manohara, Mahadev Khola and Tukucha (Icchhumati) rivers.
The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD), Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC), Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation (MoLMCPA), Department of Roads and the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilisation (HPCIDBC) are working jointly to develop corridor roads along the valley’s rivers.
Construction of these corridors began from December after the formation of a Prime Minister Office-level committee under the Short Term Action Plan for the Improvement of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Friendly Infrastrucure-2019.
HPCIDBC is responsible for building the roads, laying down sewage pipes and building embankments on either side of the rivers.
The corridor roads will have two lanes and will be 10 metres wide, including one or two metres of footpath. “The two-lane roads will provide a great relief to the valley residents,” said Kamal Aryal, information officer of the HPCIDBC.
According to Aryal, in the Bagmati corridor, work on the construction of 38 kilometres of road and 31 kilometres of embankments has been completed.
In Bishnumati corridor, 14 kilometres of the total 24 kilometres of road has been constructed along with 12 kilometres of embankments. Likewise, 12 kilometres of sewage pipes have also been laid.
In the Dhobikhola corridor, which will be 19 kilometres in length, construction of the road and river embankments has not begun while work on laying the sewage pipes has been completed.
In the Nakhkhu River corridor, around 16 kilometres of the road and embankments have been constructed and pipes have also been laid on an equal stretch. Road construction and pipe laying have not begun in the 16-kilometre stretch of Hanumante corridor but more than 11 kilometres of embankments have been built.
In Balkhu, road construction, embankments and pipe-laying works have completed in 15 kilometres of the 19 kilometre corridor.
“There is not much to show in the Mahadev, Karmanasa and Manohara corridors,” Aryal said.
Underpasses are also being built below the river bridges. Some of them have already opened at New Bus Park, Teku and Sobha Bhagwati, Aryal added.
Around 30 to 40 per cent of the traffic on the main roads will be diverted to the corridors after their completion which will make their management easier, stated MTPD.