Kathmandu, October 25
The Parliament’s Development Committee on Tuesday directed the government to repair the roads and bring down the number of road accidents.
In a directive issued in the name of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Transport and the Department of Roads, the committee directed them to patch the potholes and make roads safer.
Tuesday’s meeting of the committee directed the authorities to repair road networks, upgrade them and increase road safety.
Years have passed without government constructing any highway. But more and more vehicles enter Nepal’s poorly-maintained roads every day, increasing the possibility of road traffic accidents. With roads in bad shape, long-distance road travel is fraught with risks, the committee concluded, directing the government to repair roads on time.
It also directed the government to develop and expand the North-South Corridor and the East-West Highway as modern highways, to transform the roads built under the first and second phases of the Postal Highway project as dedicated double-lane roads. At the same time, it asked the government to allocate budget for these works.
The committee also told the government to complete the construction of the Mid-Hill Highway at the earliest, and repair Prithvi Highway, Siddhartha Highway, Martadi-Kolti Road, Bharatpur-Rampur-Meghauli Road without delay.
Most of the roads in the Kathmandu Valley are in bad shape. Committee Chair Rabindra Adhikari said the government has not been able to expedite work despite its pledge to blacktop all roads in the Kathmandu Valley within this fiscal itself. Adhikari directed the government to work in ways that make difference in people’s lives.
The committee directed the government to operate corridors along river banks within three months and prioritise construction of fliers where traffic congestion is maximum.
