Last Updated At: 2011-11-19 11:53 Road Enchroachment problem in Nepal

KATHMANDU: The Naya Baneshwor-based Everest Hotel today denied encroaching public land
and expressed concern about the abrupt demolition of its compound wall.
The government neither informed us about the demolition drive nor did it provide any
compensation for the act, legal adviser of the hotel Mithilesh K Singh said. Singh described the
governments claim that the hotel had encroached upon public land and built the compound wall
there as untrue.
The demolition of the wall has put the hotels swimming pool and the septic tank at risk, the hotel
said. Before taking this step, government authorities should have considered the inconveniences
that foreign guests at the hotel would face at a time when the country is celebrating tourism year,
Singh added.
According to Singh, when the hotel came into operation in 1979, the area was part of Mahadev
Sthan Village Development Committee that had its own rule regarding the road.
He said the hotel had not encroached upon public land. The land that the hotel has been using
was procured from the private people some 40 year ago. Since then, the hotel has been paying all
taxes and liabilities of the land to the government. So, how can the government say that the land in
question was encroached upon? Singh questioned.
Singh informed that the Department of Roads (DoR) had written to the hotel on February 20, 1995
stating that temporary structures other than the hotels compound wall will be demolished. While
on December 14, 2006, the Supreme Court had issued a verdict, directing the authorities not to
demolish the hotels compound wall.
The demolition of the wall is against the court ruling and the DoR notice, hence it is illegal,
Singh said, pointing that authorities had chosen to raze the wall on Saturday, a public holiday,
leaving the hotel no time to approach authorities concerned for legal recourse.

Road encroachment is the biggest hurdle in traffic

management

Metro column: The biggest campaign of oursclearing Ring Road of parked vehicles
has received positive feedback from all quarters.

Excepting technical traffic-related problems such as scarcity of parking lots and

dysfunctional traffic lights and zebra crossings, fixing which is the responsibility of other
government organs, the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD), has achieved
something to be proud about in the last four months.
Traffic drives including declaration of Ring Road as a no-parking zone, behavioural training
for all traffic police personnel, increased surveillance and fixed pick-up and drop stations for
public vehicles have proved milestones in mitigating traffic woes in the Valley. Besides,
minor events such as raising public awareness on traffic rules and increasing the density of
traffic police along the inner road networks have eased traffic problems.

The biggest campaign of oursclearing Ring Road of parked vehicleshas received positive
feedback from all quarters. Having taken the circular road in control, we have been able to
reduce traffic problems in inner road networks too.
Despite successful execution of the campaign, we have been criticised for implementing, what
many say, a step taken without enough study. But this is not the case. Considering the
traffic management structure, the entire responsibility does not lie with the MTPD. As a unit
that enforces the laws and regulations made by other important stakeholders, we are
responsible only for the management of vehicles on the roads.
Other responsibilities such as allotting parking spaces and maintaining traffic lights and
zebra crossings are those of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), Kathmandu
Metropolitan City (KMC) and the Department of Roads (DoR). While other stakeholders
are working the least, all the blame comes, most often, to us.
As a traffic official, I have identified road encroachment as the single largest hurdle in
managing traffic in the Valley. Be it encroachment by footpath vendors or vehicles parked on
the road, the problem is immense.
Our efforts to clear footpaths in places such as Ratna Park and Sundhara have helped cut
the number of major accidents and eased traffic jams. The MTPD is working to clear
footpaths at other places too.
Imparting behavioural training to traffic personnelanother move launched three weeks
agois also expected to improve the public-police relation. As part of this effort, celebrities,
lawyers, musicians, writers and people from other walks of life have been interacting with
the personnel at MTPD everyday.
Despite their good work, we have realised, the behaviour of traffic police with the public is
not satisfactory on many occasions. Therefore, we decided to teach some clemency to police
personnel. We aim to train 1,050 traffic personnel from all 28 MTPD sectors in this process.
Lastly, in order to bring the traffic situation under our control, it is extremely important that
all stakeholdersMTPD, DoTM, KMC and DoRwork in tandem. Apart from this,
education on traffic system, its problems and solutions should be imparted right from the
school level.
(As told by the Superintendent of Police, MTPD, to Ankit Adhikari)

Traffic woes: Soon: 51 bus stops on Ring Road

The traffic police campaign to fix 51 specific bus stops on either sides of 21-kilometre Ring Road
is soon likely to see the light of day.
Traffic police are gearing up to implement the new campaign aimed at disciplining wayward
public vehicles. All preparation for the bus stop project is over, said Spokesman of Metropolitan
Traffic Police Division (MTPD) and campaign coordinator SP Jagat Man Shrestha.
A committee formed under MTPD to monitor execution of this plan is scheduled to conduct a field
visit of would-be bus stops on Wednesday. According to Shrestha, preliminary work of installing
poles and information plates will start immediately after that visit.
The field visit slated for Wednesday is meant for conducting the last check and re-verifying the
spots that have been chosen for the purpose, he said. The initial cost of this project is estimated to
be around Rs 200,000.
Under this drive, fixed bus stations will be declared on Ring Road to facilitate systematically
picking and dropping passengers. We are on last legs of the campaign, said Shrestha. The new
move is also the continuation of traffic polices no-parking drive on the Ring Road.
Earlier in January, MTPD had launched traffic-friendly campaigns by declaring the Ring Road
the no-parking zone. As part of that campaign, no vehicles were allowed to park on any part of the
Ring Road, except at the places designated specially for parking.
After the successful execution of our no-parking drive, the Ring Road hustle has come under our
control to a large extent now, said Shrestha.
Now after our new campaign to fix designated bus stops starts, we will be able to bring Ring
Road traffic totally under our control.
This is expected to reduce both recurring traffic jam
and road accidents on the Ring Road. Once this happens, SP Shrestha said, this will not only ease
traffic woes of the Ring Road, but will also mitigate pressure on inner routes.
For Shrestha, road encroachment (because of parked vehicles), is one of major causes choking the
city traffic time after time in Kathmandu.
This is because public vehicles stop to pick and drop passengers wherever they want, said
Shrestha. When a vehicle stops randomly, the movement of other vehicles comes to a halt and
causes traffic jam.
New Buspark, Sitapaila, Kalanki, Bafal Chowk, Madannagar, Balkhu, Sanepa, Dhobighat,
Ekantakuna, Satdobato, Talshikhel, Gwarko, Kharibot, Balkumari, Koteshwor, Tinkune,
Gairigaun, Sinamangal, Airport, Tilganga, Mitrapark, Chabahil, Sukedhara, Dhumbarahi,
Maharajgunj, Samakhusi and Gongabu are among the 51 areas selected by MTPD for designated
bus stops.
After this campaign, buses and other public vehicles will no more stop haphazardly on the Ring
Road, Shrestha added.
Posted on: 2011-06-06 08:41