— Surendra Bahadur Pal
Surendra Bahadur Pal, Senior Superintendent Police (SSP), is the chief of the Valley Traffic Police Office. He spoke to THAKUR AMGAI about the problem of traffic management in Kathmandu. Excerpts:
What is the main reason for frequent traffic jams in the streets of Kathmandu?
The lack of alternative roads is the main problem to it. For example, if places around Tundikhel are stopped for some reasons, there are no alternate ways to get out of that place. In addition, the road infrastructure of Kathmandu Valley is very poor that cannot support the heavy traffic existing in Kathmandu.
Why is the average speed of the traffic in the streets of the Kathmandu very low?
The traffic speed differs from place to place and the average speed of the vehicle in the streets of Kathmandu is 20-30 km per hour during the peak hours. It is better during off hours, if there is no traffic jam. However, the practice of stopping haphazardly and lack of traffic bays reduces the total speed by a great extent.
Why cannot the traffic regulate the bus stops?
There are already too many bus stops in the city. While the international standard for the fixation of stops is at least 500 m in dense areas and 1 km in normal areas, the stops in our case are very close. Moreover, the time spent at each stop is longer. We have tried to maintain the distance between the stops but could not implement it due to complaints from passengers.
We have regulations to punish drivers who violate traffic rule. Don’t you have any system of punishing those pedestrians who violate traffic rule?
No, we don’t. If a pedestrian violates traffic rule (like crossing the street in red light or from underneath an overhead bridge), there is no rule to penalize them. I have raised this issue several times through mass media as well as in meetings, but there has not been any rule. In fact, according to the existing laws, there are chances that the traffic police might be sued in the name of defamation if he/she punishes a pedestrian for violating a traffic ‘rule’.