The two roads leading to Nagarkot, a popular tourist destination of Kathmandu Valley, from Kamalbinayak are in deplorable condition.

The 18km Kamalbinayak-Telkot-Nagarkot road and the recently built 11.5km Kamalbinayak-Chareli-Nagarkot road have developed fractures and are covered with mud, causing inconveniences for travellers.

The Kamalbinayak-Chareli-Nagarkot road was constructed in 2015 by the Asian Development Bank’s Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Development Programme at the cost of Rs 60 million. But the road was heavily damaged in the April 25 earthquake and its powerful aftershocks.

Similar is the condition of Kamalbinayak-Telkot-Nagarkot road. The ongoing road widening project undertaken by the Department of Road has made it difficult, even dangerous, to traverse. The department has dug up earth on both sides of the road, leaving behind cavities as large as 20ft deep and 50ft wide at more than a dozen places.

Kedar Dhakal, a truck driver from Gairibisaune Deupur VDC-7 of Kavre, said driving on the road is very difficult these days.

 “I have to deliver goods to Bhaktapur on a daily basis, but both roads are damaged,” he said. “How can I drive safely with all the cracks on the road and the dust that obstructs the vision?”

Metropolitan Police Range Bhaktapur said more than 10 motorcycle accidents are reported on these two roads on a daily average, because the roads are in bad condition.

Officials at District Administration Office said that they have time and again requested the road department to complete the road expansion project and fix the damaged sections without any delay. Works on these roads, however, have yet to progress.

Project manager of Kamalbinayak-Chareli-Nagarkot road Narendra Koirala, who is also a senior divisional engineer at DoR, had earlier said that shortage of materials was delaying the works.

Meanwhile, the firms contracted to expand the Kamalbinayak-Telkot-Nagarkot road, Aravali Infrapower Limited and Shailung Construction Company Pvt Ltd, blamed the ongoing fuel crisis for the delay.