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Showing posts from March, 2013

The Lost Walkability of Kathmandu

Sushma Joshi Bertelsmann Future Challenges March 9, 2013 A road expansion campaign in Kathmandu has been initiated by  Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai . This campaign has been ongoing since September 2011.The project has received  mixed feedback . Praised for adding significant width to main roads in need of widening, it has also been criticized for its lack of planning, including the way roads have been haphazardly wrecked without any seemingly coherent schedule to restore them. The citizens of Kathmandu have been breathing dust for about two years now, increasing the incidence of asthma, bronchitis and other health issues.  Many trees were lost in the project with no plans for replanting. Those who lost their homes have not been compensated-although the spaces cleared appear to have been quickly filled with large and rather ugly commercial buildings with backing from big business. No attempts have been made to promote public transport: the road widening, it appears, is pu