KAILALI, August 22: "The first thing is that such a wide highway should not have been built in the market area but it was built," Birendra Khadka said. Complaining that the six-lane road was designed on the basis of Google map, he said, “While designing the road, it was necessary to make a field visit and study the geographical and social situation there. But that was not done and the road crossings were built in an impractical manner."
Stating that roads are built to make the life of the people easy, coordinator of the National Consumers Forum, Sudurpaschim chapter, Hari Regmi said, “If roads are built for the convenience of the people, what is the point of it if the people have to suffer due to the same road? Ther road needs to be made practical to the extent possible." He complained that due to the rising cost of petroleum products which are imported from foreign countries, one is expected to use as little petroleum products as possible but due to the impractical road, the people have to travel a distance of at least two kilometers even if they have to return after traveling even a short distance. He said, "The crossings on this six-lane road are not practical. It should be corrected."KAILALI, August 22: Birendra Khadka of Dhangadhi was returning from the 'bus stand' located at the Dhangadhi intersection when a traffic policeman at the intersection whistled at him and confiscated the keys.
The traffic policeman started telling him that he would be punished for returning from the wrong way. He replied, “I had gone to the bus stop to drop off my relative, but to return from the right side, I had to go an extra 2 kilometers, so I returned the same way to save time and petrol.”
Where has the money gone?
The police were trying to fine him for using the wrong route. He urged them not to do so and apologized saying that he would not repeat such a mistake from now on. It was just one representative incident at the traffic intersection on Wednesday afternoon. If one stays at the traffic intersection for some time, one can witness hundreds of such incidents. The reason behind this is the impractical crossing (median) on the newly-constructed six-lane road.
The common citizens are suffering due to the impractical intersection as much as they were elated when the construction of the Mohanapul-Attariya six-lane road started. As the crossing pass has been built at a distance of about one kilometer from the intersection, the passengers going from one lane to another have to travel a very long distance. The cost of petroleum products, which is increasing daily, is also increasing the burden on the common consumers.
While going to Shahid Gate from Dhangadhi intersection, if one has some work in the middle, one has to go one kilometer ahead to go to another lane and then come back one kilometer again. This back and forth journey costs one both time and petrol. Sitaram Ojha said, “If you have to go to the Rastriya Banijya Bank from Shaheed Gate, you have to go around the entire intersection because there is no crossing in the middle. The 6-lane road built in Dhangadhi is impractical.”
He complained that impractical crossing passes on the six-lane road meant that one had to travel a long distance to go from one lane to another. He says that Dhangadhi is the main commercial hub of Sudurpaschim and also the capital of the province, so the population density there is high. It means the crossings on the road here should also be practical.
Om Bahadur Bisht, General Secretary of the Kailali chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, says that since the six-lane road is based on the concept of a highway, the crossings should have been built near petrol pumps, market areas, government offices and parking lots but they have been built haphazardly.
