No budget for flyover plan

THE government has not allocated any budget for the flyover plan this fiscal year. Evan as there is no separate budget for the plan, the Ministry for Physical Infrastructure and Transport has said the construction of a model flyover at New Baneshwor junction will start this year. Tulasi Prasad Situala, secretary at the ministry, said they could use the funds from other projects such as urban road project to build a ramped flyover in New Baneshwor. Despite readying the design for the planned flyover, the Department of Roads (DoR), which oversees the flyover plan, could not call a tender last fiscal year for the indecision regarding the length of the infrastructure. Situala said since flyover suggested by the consultant was longer, they had asked the consultant to slash the length and come up with a new design. “A 25-metre flyover would be sufficient for easing vehicle movement in the New Baneshwor junction,” he said. The consultant—Soil Test and Aviyaan Consulting joint-venture— had proposed a 90 m long and 17 m wide flyover. The originally-proposed 90-m long flyover was estimated to cost around Rs 600 million. The government has long been planning flyovers at busy intersections for smooth operation of vehicles. New Baneshwor’s flyover has been planned as a model, based on which other such passing would be planned, according to the ministry. In a bid to start work this fiscal year, the ministry had sought budget under a separate heading for the flyover project. The ministry has also been planning to build a 3.5-km flyover linking Maitighar-Tripureshwor- Kalimati junctions for motor traffic coming from Kalanki on the western side of the valley towards the airport and Arniko Highway. However, the 3.5-km plan has not moved forward and the design is yet to be finalised. Umesh Jha, project manager of the Bridge Project of the DoR who also looks after the flyover project, said they have not been able to work actively on the project for the ongoing road expansion drive in the Valley. “Once the roads are widened, we can build crossings based on the traffic movements and requirement,” he added.