KATHMANDU, Feb 24: Many roads in the Kathmandu Valley have been damaged due to leaks in the pipeline during the Melamchi water distribution in Kathmandu.

Especially in the main urban areas where water is being distributed in the Valley, it has been found that more damage has been done to the roads due to leakage. Potholes have been seen especially in various sections of Lainchaur-Maharajgunj, Maharajgunj-Balaju, Tripureshwar-Kalanki, Tahchal-Chauni, New Road, Kalimati-Kalanki road, Lagankhel, Kupandol, Kumaripati, Balkhu, Kalimati etc. Even though it has been postponed after seeing the holes, new leaks can be seen in that area.

Road Division Office Kathmandu said that repairs are also being done where the road has been damaged due to water leakage. Sumit KC, information officer for the division, said that something has already happened and is happening somewhere. According to him, the road will be repaired only after the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has done the restoration (filling the potholes) first.

Both KUKL and the project implementation directorate did not do a good job during the restoration and they were forced to re-work because they were suppressed, KC said. He added that the roads will be repaired soon if the agency concerned restores them immediately. Information Officer KC informed Republica that the roads are being damaged due to waterlogging on roads and it may worsen the roads later. Compared to Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, more damage has been found on the roads in Kathmandu.

Information Officer KC said potholes have been filled in 90 percent of the roads that the division is looking at. According to him, the repairs have already been started so that there will be less potholes this year than the previous years. He said, "As far as we can see, the work is being done, but we don't know how many holes will be caused by water and leakage."

According to the Kathmandu Valley Road Expansion Project, there is a problem of leakage in many pipelines on the Jorpati-Sundarijal road. Mahanand Joshi, information officer for the project, said that the leakages are being reported from various places. 

According to Information Officer Joshi, there is a problem of leakage in every road now, along the Nakhkhu to Bhainsepati road, Satdobato-Godawari road, Chabahil-Sankhu and Bhaktapur roads which are under-construction or were recently black-topped. He said, “Currently, the digging work is also being done to lay electric wires underground.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Narayankaji Shrestha has started work for coordination after he assumed the responsibility of the ministry, saying that there are potholes on the roads of the Valley due to the lack of coordination among various government agencies. A mechanism has been created for regular coordination and regular monitoring and meetings are being held, he said.

 
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