Photos by: Elite Joshi

Plying on Capital roads has been a perilous affair for valley denizens in recent times.

Adding to the woes, monsoon and the downpour it brings every year has made it even more dangerous to even walk for the general public. Small vehicles plunging into giant potholes and motorcyclists falling as they encounter potholes unexpectedly have become a normal scene inside the country’s Capital.

This all began with the road expansion drive inside the valley in order to ease the traffic congestion. The drive, in addition, brought more problems as the authorities failed to accomplish the task, at times citing budget crunch and sometimes due to the locals unwilling to clear the way for road expansion.

Similarly, Melamchi Drinking Water Project swung into action and started digging the Capital roads to lay down pipeline, what some say, in a haphazard manner.

The project is a boon for Valley public who have been reeling under drinking water crisis, however, the project since the beginning of the construction forgot to at least cover-up the dug section and abandoned leveling the roads completely.

On July 16, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba issued a directive to the concerned authority to make all the roads of Kathmandu pothole-free by repairing the cracks and crevices on the road within the next 15 days but only after a flood on road swept away Binita Phuyal, a grade three student, in Nepaltar of the Capital, killing her in course of the treatment and another school girl Satya Sapkota fell into a pit not visible due to flood in Samakhusi, Kathmandu who was, fortunately, instantly rescued by locals.

However, potholes inside Kathmandu Valley roads are not a new site, be it the damaged blacktopped sections of the main roads or the forgotten sewage covering or even the natural caving in of certain road sections.