When Sumitra Nakarmi was planning a trip to her hometown Sindhuli, she happened to see a notice displayed at the newly-installed Road Information Board (RIB) in Koteshwor:
When Sumitra Nakarmi was planning a trip to her hometown Sindhuli, she happened to see a notice displayed at the newly-installed Road Information Board (RIB) in Koteshwor: “Traffic disrupted by truck accident at Nepalthok in Kathmandu-Bardibas stretch.”
She called her parents and rescheduled her trip. “I would have stuck in traffic jam at the narrow road, may be for a day,” she said.
The introduction of Emergency Information System (EIS) for the highway is relieving hundreds of travellers from possible traffic troubles every day.
The board displays information on rainfall, natural disasters, traffic accidents and other obstructions on the road section and also makes travellers aware on road safety issues.
Two other RIBs have also been installed in Dhulikhel and Bardibas. This preventive method has been implemented with the funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Stakeholders and locals say the EIS is very effective in the area as it saves passengers from troubles they might face while travelling.
“We are getting positive feedback from people travelling in the area,” said Krishna Prasad Bhandari, Traffic Unit chief at the Department of Roads (DoR). He said that EIS is helping hundreds of passengers travelling along the highway. The EIS has installed Automatic Rainfall Observation System in four places, including Kathamdu (Min Bhawan), Bhaktapur (Road Division Road Office, Katunje), Sindhuli (Irrigation Division Office) and Bardibas (Road Division Office), which sends data automatically to the RIBs via a central server.
However, in case of other natural calamities, the DoR has assigned a supervisor for every 15-20 kilometres of the road stretch. They update the project manager with information related to accidents and disasters in the area. The project manager then verifies and updates the information in the central system.
By logging on eis.softavi.com, people can access information related to rainfall, accidents, disaster and road construction in the stretch. The information can be accessed by downloading EIS mobile application on android phones and through SMS from anywhere. “This single application works all over Nepal,” said Prashant Malla, one of the software designers for the project. Malla said if the government is able to establish RIB all over the country, the software can work where there is road connection. JICA has spent Rs 8 million on the project.
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues, crime, and human interest stories since 2011. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
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