Lack of wide roads in Kathmandu Valley posing challenges in traffic management

By Narayan Dhungana, Kathmandu - Traffic management in the Kathmandu Valley has become tougher without wide roads to keep up with increasing pressure of traffic and other traffic management aspects. A delay in the construction of corridor roads and other roads; garages, petrol stations and workshops being operated on the sides of the roads violating set guidelines; lack of parking lots and awareness and other technical problems are to blame for a difficulty in traffic management in the Valley, said Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Prasad Dhakal, chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division and coordinator of the taskforce of the integrated traffic management action plan.

Other problems like lack of laws with time, qualified drivers and effective coordination and cooperation between the respective sectors have also contributed to this problem, he said. He, however, mentioned some positive works relating to the traffic management in the Valley lately. The drive to repair roads in the Valley and clean up dusty roads at the direction of Prime Minister is a good initiative to manage roads, he said. The six-member taskforce has submitted the integrated traffic management action plan, 2077 to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The taskforce has categorised traffic problems as short-term and long-term. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said that the action plan has been important to manage traffic in the Valley and would be implemented with high priority. In this regard, there is a need for cooperation among the Ministry, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and local levels, he said.