KATHMANDU, Sept 30: The hours-long traffic jam along the Nagdhunga-Naubise road section witnessed over the past few days has eased significantly after the authorities introduced a slew of measures. 

Traffic police informed that traffic congestion along the road section has improved since Saturday after they increased the number of traffic police personnel and even deployed civil police to make sure that all vehicles follow lane discipline. 

Similarly, traffic police has barred cargo vehicles from plying the road during busy hours keeping in view of possible traffic snarl. 

The new measures have been adopted after widespread criticism from various quarters that the government failed to do anything to ease the worsening traffic condition in the road section. The hours-long traffic jam on Friday even took the life of a kidney patient who could not get timely treatment due to the traffic jam.

Superintendent of Police Rabi Kumar Paudel at the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) Ramshahpath said they have increased the presence of traffic police personnel along the road. He said that some 30 additional police personnel have also been deployed along the road to assist the traffic police personnel to maintain lane discipline. 

According to SP Poudel, who is also the spokesperson of the MTPD, they have introduced a new arrangement to bar cargo vehicles, lorries and tipper trucks from plying the road during peak hours in order to avoid traffic jams.  The rule for allowing these vehicles to ply the road only after 1 am shall be applied for the next few weeks. 

“We have also arranged two tow trucks of 40-ton capacity to carry vehicles off the road in case of emergency. These vehicles are used to remove any vehicles that break down on the road to ensure smooth vehicular movement,” SP Poudel further said. 

SP Poudel said they have observed visible change after they enforced a number of measures since Saturday. “The measures we have applied have successfully helped in reducing the traffic jam along the Naubise-Nagdhunga road. The situation is far better now,” he said. “We may need to wait for a few more days to see some visible changes in the traffic condition.” 

The movement of vehicles to and from Kathmandu Valley has increased significantly since the past few days as large number of people are moving out of Kathmandu Valley while large quantity of goods are being imported in the Valley keeping in view of the upcoming festive season. 

Amid criticisms from various quarters about the government's inability to contain the traffic jam, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa had convened a meeting with concerned government officials to discuss about possible measures to tackle the problem. 

Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Janak Raj Dahal, chief of the Metropolitan Police Office DIG Shailesh Thapa Chhetri and chief of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division Bhim Prasad Dhakal, were among those attending the meeting. 

Minister Thapa had instructed them to take all possible measures to ease the worsening traffic condition along the road section. 

Following the meeting, MTPD chief Dhakal-led team had visited the road to see the possibility to reduce traffic jam on Saturday. 

Among other things, the traffic police has strictly enforced a rule of “no overtake” in this section of road to avoid traffic jam. Traffic police has also initiated a process to fill the potholes along the highways in coordination with the Department of Roads.

 
• traffic_jam
 
• Nagdhunga-Naubise
 
• traffic_congestion
 
• lane_discipline