Dust-free Kathmandu campaign challenged by road potholes

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City is facing an adverse condition to operate broomer machine in inner roads. Potholes in inner roads are yet to be mended and the situation has posed a challenge to operate broomer service smoothly for cleaning up road dust.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) office has been operating seven broomer machines since a year in a bid to realise the plan of dust-free Kathmandu. But its results are seen only in major roads.

The responsibility for the management of roads with eight metres width is of the KMC office.

According to KMC Environment Department chief Hari Kumar Shrestha, the campaign to making Kathmandu dust-free has been challenged as potholes in auxiliary roads remain as it is. However, the use of broomer in large roads continues.

Main roads generally do not feature potholes. Works of maintaining roads’ beauty are going on. Though the present condition is not sufficient to be satisfied, the condition of Valley roads has improved.

The restoration of Valley roads is the priority of the government and in the past 100 days, 9,500 potholes were mended. However, the condition of inner and auxiliary roads has not improved yet.

The government aims to blacktop 85 kilometres of road in the Kathmandu Valley till the end of current fiscal year.

KMC said the mending of small roads has not caught the attention of authorities concerned and it has been facing to clean those roads with the help of broomer machine.

However, the dust pollution in the major roads has been gradually vanishing.