DHADING, Oct 12: In a recent travel, Dinesh Sapkota got into a bus at Dhadingbesi at 7 am and reached Kathmandu at 5 pm. He had planned to complete works in Kathmandu by the evening and return to Dhadingbesi. But the plan failed to materialize due to the prolonged traffic snarl on the Naubise-Nagdhunga road section.
“Normally it would take only three hours to reach Kathmandu from Dhading. But it took me 10 hours today due to traffic congestion on the Naubise-Nagdhunga section,” said Sapkota, venting his ire. The road section can normally be crossed in an hour. Lately, however, commuters are sometimes stuck in terrible trafficjams, taking up to eight hours.
It took four hours for another commuter Surendra Shrestha to cross Naubise-Nagdhunga (25 km) on his bike on Wednesday while returning from Mustang. “I can drift past vehicles if it is a small traffic. However, the traffic jams have gotten worse in recent days,” he lamented.
Traffic snarls caused by VVIP movements now routine
Commuters like Sapkota and Shrestha are being tormented by the traffic snarls on the Naubise-Nagdhunga road section on a daily basis. The road section is not only narrow, but also uphill and serpentine.
Horrible traffic jams have been troubling hundreds of commuters traveling to and from the Kathmandu Valley for their important errands.
Another passenger, Govinda Adhikari said, “It's not easy to get stuck in traffic for hours. The scorching heat and crowd of passengers make bus journeys highly suffocating when we get stuck in hours of traffic snarls.” The problem gets worse during festive seasons like Dashain and Tihar, he added.
The narrow road section prevents even ambulances from moving forward, essentially risking lives of patients due to delay in reaching health institutions.
The Naubise-Nagdhunga road section is a part of the Tribhuvan Highway, which is the only highway connecting 67 districts to the country's capital Kathmandu. The condition of the highway is also terrible, with lots of potholes, dust and mud along the way.
The under-construction section from Nagdhunga to Kalanki is another trouble. Snail-paced and unmanaged construction has also increased the risk of road accidents.
