Locals and vehicle passengers along the roads in Kotmaula have been suffering due to the construction company's lack of interest in road dust management.
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Dust has plagued commuters on the Salyankobagchaur-Kotmaula-Patihalna road under the Madan Bhandari Highway, which is being upgraded and blacktopped.
The construction company has shown little interest in road dust management, which has caused inconvenience to locals and passengers who travel by car in Kotmaula.
As the road becomes dusty, small vehicles and two-wheelers have problems moving around, and the risk of accidents is increasing. Passengers of small vehicles often get dusty in front of large vehicles. Not only that, they have also started experiencing respiratory problems.
After the federal government allocated the budget, Kumar Nirman Sewa had started the work of upgrading and blacktopping 52 kilometers of the road from Madichour in Rolpa to Bagchaur in Salyan via Patihalna last year.
Nandaram Wali, a local of Kotmaula, said that since the road becomes dusty, it is impossible to move around during the day. He informed that although the construction company is carrying out the work of upgrading and blacktopping the road, they have been directly affected due to the lack of attention to dust management. "As the road is completely covered with dust, people are seeing problems like falling into a pothole while riding a motorcycle and not knowing where the pothole is," he said. "There is a situation where many vehicles are moving during the day and have to go to a safe place in advance."
Although it is good to do development work, the road from Bagchaur to Palihalna is now dusty because the construction company does not pay attention to simple things, said Sushil Jung Chand, ward chairman of Bagchaur Municipality 8. He informed that if the construction company does water supply work from time to time, locals and passengers will not have to suffer.
"Since Kot Maula is an orange pocket area, oranges have now ripened and become a paradise. There is a rush of vehicles coming to buy oranges. As vehicles are blowing dust, motorcycle passengers are forced to use alternative routes," he said. Due to the dusty road and the dust blown by vehicles, locals and passengers in vehicles are facing various problems, he said.
Shankar Poudel, Chief of Madan Bhandari Highway Planning Office, Surkhet, said that the construction company has been spraying water around the settlements so that the dust does not affect the general public and passengers during the road construction work. He informed that the construction work has been affected due to the unavailability of construction materials.
According to him, the construction company has completed 18 percent of the 52-kilometer road from Madichaur in Rolpa to Bagchaur in Salyan in one year, which was supposed to be completed in three years. He said that since there is no such program to prevent problems due to dust during the construction, the office and the construction company will do their best.
