sandesh Acharya [1]acharya
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING IN NEPAL
Devlopment of transportation sector in nepal began six decades ago. Since then this sector has been guided with periodic plans and policies.There is no satisfactory progress in transport sector in those six decades. We have not been able to meet the policies for last two decades.With the ongoing change
After the decades of political transition, Nepal is going to embark on an accelerated economic growth for which transport development has been recognized as one of the main strategies. With an objective of providing some valuable insights to the policy makers, this article adopts a broad-brush approach to review the past efforts, identify current challenges and opportunities, and finally list out important strategies that would guide Nepal’s transport development towards a sustainable ends. Most importantly, the article highlights some of the agenda which can potentially serve as the coroner stones for sustainable transport system but not yet properly discussed at the policy making level. It is expected that the contents of this article would serve as a useful reference for the transport policy makers in Nepal.
Now Goverment is holding the policy to develop road facilities which helps in connecting gaint neighbour economic nations.Devlopment of roads and other systems to connect China and India can be another mildstone for Nepal's economy.Apart from that various concepts of different modes have been presented on airport development, railway development,roadways development,ropeway development and son on. Some of the examples are presented below.
The government has a greater role to play in formulating and executing development plans and distributing the fruits thereof to the people. But the way development planning has been going on for the last several decades shows that there is no sincerity in implementing any development plans. It is no wonder in this part of the world that development plans take years, if not decades, just to get off the ground. The laying of the foundation stone of Pokhara Regional International Airport is a case in point. The plan for the construction of the airport was made a cool 40 years ago.
Nepal is not poor given the vast resources it has at its disposal. The only problem is that such resources remain fallow. A strong leadership that is development-minded has not developed yet in the country. Many governments have come and gone, but a government that is capable of driving the country to the path of development is yet to come up.
Development is a continuous process. Development is taking place, knowingly or unknowingly, especially due to the needs of the hour. But such development is not enough. What is needed is ‘dedicated’ development, which is yet to see the light in Nepal.
Development is a multi-dimensional aspect. There are several sectors that are awaiting development in Nepal. As a matter of fact, there is not a single sector that the country can feel proud of. Every sector, be it health, education or transport, is in a dilapidated condition. It seems the country is running haphazardly and without any destination. That is why, the standard of living of most of the people is sliding day in, day out.
An important infrastructure required for development to take place is indubitably road development. Roads are the arteries of development. The development of roads has a domino effect on other sectors. In other words, the development of roads results in the development of other sectors, such as tourism, agriculture, commerce and industry.
But the government does not give priority to roads. The condition of roads in Kathmandu is more than enough to show how nonchalant the government and the concerned authority are towards the development of roads. The roads in Kathmandu are mismanaged. They are full of potholes for lack of proper maintenance. Most of the inner-city areas are not black-topped. Even pitched roads are first dismantled in the name of maintenance, but it takes months, if not years, for the roads to get maintained. Sometimes, blacktopping is done over already-pitched roads so as to exhaust the budget at the end of a fiscal year.
Roads are vital. Without the development of roads, the development of a country cannot be conceived of. It is without doubt that the development of roads will further give a shot-in-the-arm to the tourism sector. The government is never tired of talking about promoting the tourism sector. There are many tourism sites scattered across the country. But lack of transport has spoiled the very prospects of the development of tourism. So tourists are compelled to tour limited places. Expansion of road networks is very important in boosting the tourism sector.
Apart from above the concepts of BRT ( rapid bus transit) ,LRT( light rail transit) are currently the center of highlights to manage exiating traffic and mode management.