KATHMANDU, Feb 16:Construction and demolition of Kageshwari-Manohara road in the outskirts of Kathmandu is a perfect example to how money from state coffers is wasted in the name of development.

The road section was black-topped just a month ago but now an excavator is digging the same road to lay pipes for Melamchi drinking water project.

Locals who witnessed the construction and demolition of the 1.5 kilometers long road from Mulpani Cricket Ground to Gabisachowk within a month described it as an example of how money from state coffers is wasted mainly due to lack of coordination among the government bodies.

The black-topping contract of Rs 10 million was awarded a year ago and the project was completed just a month ago. 

Milan Shakya, project manager at the Project Implementation Directorate of KUKL, said that they had already informed the Department of Roads beforehand about their plan to lay the pipes along the road. 

“We had informed the department a year ago about our plan of laying pipes at Mulpani,” said Shakya. “We reminded them about our plan second time but still they started to black-top the road section.”

Dharmendra Jha, chief of Kathmandu-1 division office of the Department of Roads, however, said he was unaware of digging of the road that was black-topped a month ago. “We have no information about that.”

Asked why they black-topped the road even after they were informed about the plan to lay the pipes, he said, they can’t respond all the letters they receive in the department. “We don’t know, how many letters are registered at the office,” said Jha.

A local Ram Prasad Sapkota said the Department of Roads waited for a year and black-topped it just a month before another government body was preparing to lay the pipes.
 

 
• construction
 
• demolish
 
• kageshwari-manohara road