- Thursday, 16 January 2025
Nepali Highways: No Easy Ride For Travellers
Aditi Koirala
Transportation problems prevail in every part of our country during the festive seasons.
The era we live in highlights the importance of proper transportation. For a developing country like ours, good transportation is key for overall development. But unfortunately, we don't seem to have a proper transportation system yet in our country.
And we all Nepalese from each part of the country have been dealing with much more problems in all the possible means of transportation. Poor construction of roads and constant delays in airways are always part of the head news these days. The major forms of transportation in our country are roadways and airways with the absence of waterways as we are a landlocked country.
Roadways and Airways
Of various means of transportation, roadways are the most widely used. Due to the economic class division, not all Nepali can afford airways. And even if some of them do, the majority are stuck with only one option. Roads and highways across the nation become busiest during festive times.
People residing in different areas return to their villages and homes to reunite with their families and celebrate festivals with joy and togetherness.
The problems we face while travelling in Nepal due to poor construction and unmanaged roadways are not new for us to hear. And even this year locals faced immense problems due to the unmanaged highways of Nepal. When long routes are disturbed, it causes problems for both carriers as well as passengers. As we all know, our country never fails to make it to the top list, when it comes to pollution.
Roads are dismantled and left like that for years and that doesn't just affect humans but equally hampers biodiversity.
The environment gets polluted causing severe damage to plants as well as animals. We humans are not just destroying ourselves but also damaging our ecosystem. Not only that, dust hampers the health of locals and nearby residents. They have lung and breathing problems.
The Prithvi Highway is the main highway for entrance to the capital of the country. This highway is always busy as it is the gateway for the transaction of many goods, and services as well as the movement of people from all around the country. When road conditions are not up to date, the daily activity of transferring can get obstructed.
Not only that, there can be a high risk of accidents even on a normal basis. Now during the festivals, the risk and the problems double due to an increase in the flow of vehicles. According to sources, this year around 1.7 million people left the valley for their hometowns of other places during Dashain and I was one of them.
Every year we face some problems while travelling due to poor road conditions, but this year was even more difficult as roadways are pathetic everywhere in our country. For around six hours drive, it took us more than 12 hours to reach our destination. The Narayanghat-Butwal highway has remained unmanaged for years now. Road construction is not even at 50 per cent completion, where the construction contract period is over.
All the residents are hoping that the roadways will be constructed as soon as possible because their everyday life has been very difficult. It was a dreadful ride even for me for a one-day ride, imagine how the locals are living in that dusty polluted environment. In addition to this climate again played its part with continuous rain which made the return of many people back to their workplaces impossible.
We heard the news of how people were stuck in jams for more than 20 hours. the road clearance was not done even the other day so people who had to return to their respective work or school were stuck on the way.
Even ambulances were stuck. Pokhara, Lumbini, and Kathmandu are some major cities in our country. These are also major tourist attractions and the busiest areas and this time my visit to these places disappointed me in several ways. One of the major ones was transportation. Such a busy and important area is left in shambles, which is shameful for us Nepalese.
The government should give their attention to these places. And not only these places but all the other areas. We all know how busy highways can get during the festive season. Road conditions should be checked and maintained before the start of the festive season and kept up to date during and after the completion of festivals as well. The general public also plays a vital role in the maintenance of existing roads.
Stop Carelessness
We shouldn't be careless. We should follow all the traffic rules and drive with proper discipline. Many people due to their unethical habit of overtaking, overtaking from the wrong side and speeding lead to traffic jams and not only that much these activities also endanger them and other people along them with a high risk of accidents.
The issue of an ideal level of hygiene is also a problem near highways. Locals can also build public loos in different areas. A proper garbage disposal facility should be provided. Signboards and milestones should be well maintained and clear at every place.
Roadways are a major source of movement in our country and we all from every level should play our part in constructing, using as well as maintaining them.
(Koirala is a Bachelor level student)
How did you feel after reading this news?
