+

Political demonstrations turn Kathmandu traffic management into shambles

Vehicles are seen obstructed during a rally against the dissolution of the House of Representatives, on Sunday, December 27, 2020.

Kathmandu, December 28

With the government’s decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, several groups have been organising different protest programmes in the capital since last week.

There were 18 protest programmes in the capital on Monday only.

Most of them take place on busy streets. Consequently, the traffic management in the Kathmandu valley has turned a shambles, complaint traffic police.

“We have been diverting vehicles from the places where the demonstrations are held to alternative routes,” SSP Janak Raj Bhattarai, the chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says, adding that trick, however, would not solve the problem.

Because a lot of vehicles are diverted to a particular route at the same time, narrow roads which would not see much traffic otherwise also get congested.

Bhattarai informs obstructing a major road section for just 15 minutes means traffic congestions in several parts of the city for one and a half hours.

On the other hand, it has been difficult for the division to manage cops during such hard times. Currently, there are 1,470 traffic police personnel working the valley.

Bhattarai says cops stationed at other places of the capital are also mobilised in crowded places whenever required.

React to this post

Conversation

New Old Popular