Senior road officials blame the April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks for the damage suffered by Valley roads. However, independent technicians say shoddy construction and poor drainage are the actual reason.

Incessant rainfall in Kathmandu has led to damages in several city roads as flooding along roads such as Tinkune and Lazimpat has eroded the top layer of asphalt, resulting in potholes and cracks. The Jadibuti-Pepsicola road section has developed sinkholes while a section of Gongabu-Baniyatar road has been washed away by the overflowing Bishnumati River. These are roads excluding those which were already dilapidated before monsoon.

“This is a combined effect of earthquake and rain,” Laxmi Dutta Bhatta of Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Unit under the Department of Roads told the Post. “The earthquake has loosened the ground and water seeps in through leading to further widening of the cracks and hence the damage,” he said, adding that the roads are sturdy to begin with and there is no problem in the design itself.

However, civil engineer Sujan Bista said most Valley roads do not meet the requirements for pavement thickness resulting in lower compaction, a term used to refer compression of soil to increase its load-bearing capacity.

“Use of substandard and inadequate materials in subgrade, the bottom layer of a road, and asphalt, the surface layer, results in lowered compaction,” Bista said. “As a result roads are certain to wear out.”

Another factor leading to road damage, according to Bista, is lack of drainage. “If proper drainage systems are not installed in roads, flowing water creates ruts or grooves by eroding the top layer resulting in potholes and sinkholes,” he said.

Umesh Jha of Planning and Design branch of DoR said that building heavy duty roads which can sustain all kinds of weather for years is very expensive so their main concern at the moment is to keep roads functioning. “Damages to roads are universal occurrences especially during floods,” he said. “In Nepal, we have to be thankful that at least roads do exist and we should be willing to compromise on its quality.”