Capital hankers after underground passages

Amid a rush to build more sky bridges in the Capital, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City seems non-serious towards adding subways.

There are eight sky bridges in the city with six lying between Sahidgate and Jamal alone. On the contrary, the number of subways is far less than that, let alone matching up to public expectation. The KMC wants to go the whole hog for sound traffic management by strengthening the subway system. However, in reality the metropolitan city has almost remained dormant in building subways.

According to authorities, the only subway at Ratnapark has proved to be a better alternative to overhead bridges. When it comes to benefits, underground passages are one step ahead than sky bridges.

“They are more durable and disaster resilience. At the same time subways are friendly to different people like those with disability”, said Indra Suwal, an engineer at KMC. He said subways are friendlier to heavy loads too, while sky bridges can stand in the way of double-decker vehicles.

The Ratnapark subway was built some three decades ago. Before its construction, there were already two overhead bridges at Kantipath and the NAC gate. These overheads were, later, knocked down to expand roads, but the subway is still there.

“Despite huge investment, subways can be built in other parts of the city too”, said Ram Bahadur Thapa, chief of KMC’s physical and infrastructure division. “We will have some multipurpose subways in the major junctions if the private sector comes forward with investment.”

The underground passage at Ratnapark has not only served pedestrians crossing the road, but at the same time it has seen business activities flourishing inside. Mega subways can take the form of shopping centres. According to KMC records, the lone

subway generates revenue of more than Rs 600,000 each year. “I have been running my business here since five years and this has helped me sustain my life,” said Shyam Lama, a retailer.
(Origionally published in The Kathmandu Post of 27th May, 2012)