Kathmandu, July 19
The New Road area of Kathmandu has witnessed a significant local protest against the ongoing footpath expansion project. This resistance has prompted the deployment of a substantial number of Nepal Police and municipal police to manage the situation.
The Kathmandu Metropolitan City resumed the footpath expansion work on Wednesday after the High Court issued an order allowing the project to proceed.
Previously, the metropolitan city had initiated the expansion work, which involved breaking the blacktop of the road. However, the Road Division Office intervened, confiscating materials and forcing the metropolitan city to patch up the disrupted blacktop.
In response to the Road Division Office’s intervention, the metropolitan city filed a writ petition with the Patan High Court. The High Court, upon hearing the petition, issued an interim order stating that the management of urban roads falls under the local government’s jurisdiction. The court directed that the footpath expansion work on New Road should not be halted.
The joint bench of Patan High Court judges Dhruva Raj Nanda and Prakash Kharel ruled that the letter from the Road Division Office instructing the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to stop the footpath expansion work should not be implemented. Following this directive, the metropolitan city resumed the expansion work.
The ongoing conflict between local authorities and the Road Division Office, along with the protests from locals, has highlighted the challenges faced in urban development projects.
