KATHMANDU, Aug 23: Vehicular movement along the recently opened underpass connecting Khasi Bazaar and Bafal Chowk in Kalanki has been halted from 7 am Wednesday to carry out minor construction work. The minor work which should have been completed Wednesday could not be finished after a Chinese worker died in an accident at the site.
“Only minor works were to be carried out which would have taken one day in maximum,” Project Manager of Kathmandu Ring Road Improvement Project (KRRIP) Prakash Bhandari said, “The works could not be completed after a Chinese worker died.” According to him, the Chinese employee met an accident on site and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he breathed his last. He added that the work will resume Thursday and the underpass will be reopened on Friday.
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The major problem that was observed while the underpass was briefly opened was the dustiness of the road. “We knew that the problem would occur because we had not completed the asphalt layer. If heavy vehicles braked in the underpass, it would peel out the upper layer of the road, rendering the road full of gravel and dust,” Bhandari said, “The incomplete underpass was opened last Friday in order to help the people who faced the drudgery of traffic jams.”
Bhandari also informed that the work of adding the final layer of asphalt on the underpass was hindered by rains. “The Chinese side has informally informed us that the asphalt-laying work will be carried out in mid-September.” He added that it will take five days to lay a layer of asphalt.
Bhandari dismissed claims of insufficient lighting in the underpass. He said, “Lighting is not a problem because the road is 32 meters wide and 800 meters long and will have sufficient light.”
Traffic police officials on duty at Kalanki have expressed their dissatisfaction over the halting of the vehicular movement along the underpass. “It has become convenient for us to manage the traffic when the underpass was in operation,” Inspector Bimal Thapa said, “Now, we have returned to the previous situation when the vehicles have to wait for at least 20 minutes to cross Kalanki.”
