Potholes dot the entire road section, while concrete toppings have been washed away making transportation difficult, if not impossible. [break]
“Many tourists visit this area for sight seeing but travelling on the damaged roads have turned a major deterrent,” said Indra Shrestha, a businessman in Charikot. “Enjoying the scenic beauty of the place becomes impossible while travelling on rough roads,” he added.
Ironical that the government allocates millions of rupees to repair the 111km road section annually, the damaged road section tells an entirely different story. The road section was built by the Swiss government in 1970. A decade on, the road section due to lack of timely repair is in a completely damaged state, said an officer at Charikot Road Division Office (RDO).
Movement of heavy vehicles along the road section has been blamed for the current condition of the road section. According to the officer, movement of heavy vehicles along the road section has increased following construction of hydropower projects in the area.
“This road can bear a maximum weight of 10-13 tons but vehicles weighing more than 40 tons have been plying the road section,” said an engineer at RDO.
“The road needs to be upgraded into a double lane road,” said Dayakanta Jha, former chief of RDO.
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