July 14, 2006

In the absence of traffic sense, roads of Kathmandu valley appear more like fish market

By SAHISHNU POUDYAL

Honking of horns, impossible jams and random rides are the basic features of Kathmandu roads. Amid the brouhaha, accidents and obstructions are frequent phenomenon. And add numerous demonstrations and rallies by various interest groups every other day at the center of the capital and you will get a heady mix.

Urban Traffic: Lack of discipline

Welcome to the wild world of urban traffic in Kathmandu. Commuters, drivers as well as pedestrians everyone share the blame for this terrible situation. It is normal to find pedestrians jaywalking just below the overhead bridges constructed just for the purpose of their safety and comfort. Traffic lights mean nothing and zebra crossings are coolly ignored.

In the absence of traffic culture, street traffic of Kathmandu has resembled street melee with pedestrians and drivers exchanging occasional fisticuffs. But most of them like to heap the blame on others.

“We have no problem with the streets but we have to be very careful with the pedestrians because by violating the rule they want to cross the road and I think it may cause an accident due to the confusion.” said Rajani Dhakal one of the scooter riders.

Supporting Rajani, Sudarsan, another bike rider, said “It is really a very risky job to ride a bike in busy streets. Pedestrians try to cross the road and walk anywhere they want to in the street. Therefore, we need to be very careful with pedestrians as well as the heavy loaded vehicles.”

However, pedestrians have their own say. “When we get ready to cross the road on green signal, drivers try to run us over and instead of stopping their vehicles, they increase its speed. And in such situation, accidents are obviously going to take place,” said Sabina Maharjan and her brother Subas, the local pedestrians at Koteshwor Chowk.

Sorakhutte, New Baneswhore and Narayan Gopal chock are some of the major accident-prone areas in Kathmandu. “It is very difficult job for us to manage traffic and control accidents in the busy roads,” said Jagat Man Shreatha, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the Valley Traffic Police Office (VTPO). “The world is moving ahead with the most advanced technologies. Everything moves with automatic system but we are still working with manual system. With the help of the whistle, we are trying to manage the road problems. It is very difficult for us to work with old technology because of tremendous growth in road-users. To manage the road we are compelled to prevent the plying of heavy load vehicles inside city area during rush hours” he added.

When asked if the narrow roads and increasing number of the vehicles were main causes of road accidents, he denied it and illustrated, “These accidents are caused due to lack of traffic discipline among the riders and lack of traffic awareness among pedestrians.”

“To control accidents and jams, from the last few years we have started using traffic light system in eleven places, which are the busiest intersections. The places are Thapathali, Maitighar, Singh Durbar, Padmodaya Mod, Putalisadak, Naya Baneshwore, Tinkune, Koteshwor, Kesher Mahal, Kalanki and Darbarmarg and we are planning to increase the number in the coming days.” In addition, he suggests that to control the accidents on the roads, public awareness campaigns need to be initiated; the process of giving licenses should be improved.

As per the record provided by the VTPO, most of the accidents are of motorbikes and the victims of such accidents are the bike riders. There are altogether 502225 vehicles in the country and, most of them are running in the streets of Kathmandu valley.

Meanwhile, according to latest data made available by the Department of Transport Management, total vehicle registration increased by 9 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year to reach 29,430 – up from 26,060 last year. The registration of motorcycles and scooters, however, decreased by 1.5 percent to reach 20,125 during this period. According to the department, Lalitpur there are 2, 14,000 motorbikes registered from Bagmati zone.

As such, it is necessary to infuse the sense of traffic and road discipline among all stakeholders including pedestrians, drivers and commuters in order to ensure safe and hazardless traveling.