While one of the 26 bridges in Kathmandu Valley collapsed recently, three others are also on the verge of falling down due to illegal sand mining near the bridges, according to an assessment by Divisional Road Office (DRO), Kathmandu. [break]
"Illegal sand mining near major bridges coupled with the tendency of people to encroach upon river course through illegal settlements has greatly reduced the load bearing capacity of major bridges," said engineer Binod Kumar Mauwar at DRO, Kathmandu.
Engineer Mauwar said that the bridge over Bagmati at Tinkune and another bridge over Dhobikhola at Chabahil are on the verge of collapse. The bridge over Bagmati River near Gaushala has also descended three meters below its original level due to sand quarrying.
Sinamangal Bridge.
Bikash Karki
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A 40-meter long bridge over Bagmati River in Sinmangal collapsed some five months ago due sand quarrying near it. Thousands of commuters and motorists are undergoing difficulties these days as Department of Road (DoR) is yet to fix the bridge for want of necessary resources.
It costs about Rs 600,000 to Rs 800,000 to build just a meter of Reinforced Cement Concrete bridge.
"Sand is no more just sand. It has become like gold. All bridges in Kathmandu will collapse sooner than later if mining persists," said engineer Krita Nanda Thakur, who heads the Bridge Section at DoR.
"We had to lose a bridge over Bagmati River at Thapathali some 20 years back due to sand quarrying," he added. "The same happened with a bridge in Sinamangal."
The life expectancy of all road bridges in Kathmandu is 100 years.
But they are collapsing quite young due to sand mining and encroachment of their normal course, according to DoR officials.
Sinamangal Bridge.
Bikash Karki
There is a heavy demand for sand in Kathmandu Valley as some 5,000 new houses on an average are built each year in Kathmandu Metropolitan City area alone. The number of new houses stands far higher if you put together the statistics of Lalitpur Sub-metropolis and three other municipalities and those built in the suburbs of the Valley.
This does not mean that there is no law to curb illegal sand mining.
The existing Road Law says it is illegal to collect sand in areas falling 200 meters from the bridge. But the law does not specifically mention the kind of action to be taken against such perpetrators.
"The government first needs to amend the existing laws with a clear provision of punishment," said Thakur, adding, "Police also have to cooperate with our requests to check such illegal sand mining."
It is equally important that locals keep vigil on sand mining near bridges in their localities and inform concerned authorities. "After all, it is the locals who suffer the most in the event of bridge collapse," Thakur further said.
Officials at the DoR complained that their requests are not taken seriously by police and local administration. "Police and local administration have failed to take action against such persons despite repeated requests," added Thakur. "We are helpless as we do not have our own mechanism in place to take action against such persons."
However, police do not agree with this. Superintendent of Police Nawa Raj Silwal, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Office, Kathmandu, said they are making all possible efforts to curb sand mining. "This is just not case of bridge collapse. The unchecked sand mining is putting the entire city at risk of big environmental hazard," said Silwal.
"We are focused more on crime-related things," added Silwal. "Police alone can not check this practice unless all stakeholders make a collective effort."
koshraj@myrepublica.com
