Outer Ring Road unlikely to come to existence

Bishnu Prasad Aryal
Kathmandu, February 16

Outer Ring Road, an ambitious project of the government to develop Kathmandu Valley, has turned to a far cry after locals refused to provide land for the pooling process. The problem was complicated after the Newa: Mukti Morcha (NMM) backed up the locals, even who invaded the public land en route to proposed ring road.

According to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW), the project that was launched five years ago conceived a 66km ring road, crossing through Sallaghari of Bhaktapur, in the outer part of the Kathmandu Valley. The 66+6km long ring road covering Bhaktapur inside has been proposed as the second option of the project.

“The project is almost impossible to come to existence after the locals refused to provide land in course of land-pooling for the ring road,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, joint-secretary at the MoPPW. “Everything has been halted for last five months,” he said.

The feasibility study of the Outer Ring Road was carried out with the Chinese support three years ago. The proposed ring road covers 550m width of land including 50m road and 250m of space with greenery in both sides each.

Following long discussions and settlement of various problems, the MoPPW began to work in the section of Chovar to Satungal of Kathmandu two years ago. Additionally, a 300m tunnel through the Nagarjun jungle was also already agreed upon.

“We are unable to buy all the land necessary for the ring road,” said Sitaula. “If people cooperated with us, they would take advantage of the project utmost,” he added.

If foreign assistance is invested in the project, Rs 200 million will be spent to construct 1km of the road. “If we construct ourselves, it will not cost of more than Rs 70 million per kilometer road construction,” he said.

People who have encroached public land protested the plan rejecting to cooperate with the land pooling process. “It was planned to pool land and distribute managed sites to the people. However, there is no progress at all,” said Sitaula. “If the problem is politically solved, there may be a way out to move ahead,” he said.

Pawan Man Shrestha, general secretary of the NMM, said that it was the question of federalism and conservation of open land. “Flow of people has already overcrowded the valley. All land should not be covered with houses,” said Shrestha. “We have to develop infrastructure for the existing population and as per the need of locals instead of creating problem by adding crowd of people,” he added.

Disappointed Sitaula argued that it was better to develop link roads from the city centre to outskirts of the valley before working on outer ring road. “Outer Ring Road will be defunct without managed link roads to the existing inner ring road,” he said. The present inner ring road has a length of 28km encircling main city areas.