{"id":12306,"date":"2017-07-24T17:02:59","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T11:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/?p=12306"},"modified":"2021-09-23T09:36:50","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T03:51:50","slug":"kathmandus-gaping-holes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/kathmandus-gaping-holes\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathmandu&#8217;s Gaping Holes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On March 23, coming across a manhole with a faulty cover, I took a photo and tweeted about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt;\">I was worried that some small child or animal might fall into it in the evening or night when streets in Kathmandu go pitch dark for lack of street lighting.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Open manhole I came across this morning in Samakhushi! I hope no one falls into it this eve\/night! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NO4l0RP5ua\">pic.twitter.com\/NO4l0RP5ua<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dorje_sDooing\/status\/844898423476170752\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br>I was also interested in seeing how long it would take the concerned authorities to fix it so I tweeted updates a number of times! (Follow the link to the tweet above or below to see the thread.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time I finally discovered it fixed, it was already April 11, three weeks since I had first come across it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>It&#8217;s been fixed! Here&#8217;s the evidence, which was taken yesterday! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8sxJhkVLWh\">pic.twitter.com\/8sxJhkVLWh<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dorje_sDooing\/status\/852043760183558145\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">April 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t know if any mishap occurred in the meantime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In late April, I came across this in Thamel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/thamel-a-completed-manhole-III.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"612\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/thamel-a-completed-manhole-III.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/thamel-a-completed-manhole-III.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/thamel-a-completed-manhole-III-294x300.jpg 294w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>After it was completed, wooden planks and what looked like a sack was all that covered the manhole (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/manhole-in-Thamel-II.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"358\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/manhole-in-Thamel-II.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/manhole-in-Thamel-II.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/manhole-in-Thamel-II-300x179.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p> There was no signage anywhere. Again, I don&#8217;t know if any mishap occurred there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt;\">But, there have been mishaps of late, the kind that I feared!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roads in Kathmandu are in a <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/never-end-piss-and-love\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">constant state of construction<\/a> and therefore hard on everything from <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/sole-survivor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shoes<\/a> to vehicles! Following the digging of the streets up for the Melamchi Drinking Water Project pipes, most roads in the city have been in some state of construction for a while now and will probably continue to be so for a while longer still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(I always wondered why the wealthy and the elite in Kathmandu bought &#8212; and drove around the streets of Kathmandu in &#8212; very very expensive off-road, four-wheel drive SUV&#8217;s! That, I recently learned, was all in&nbsp; preparation for the current road conditions! \ud83d\ude09 \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s more, no different from other road works, all of the current work have appeared to be chaotic, haphazard and ad hoc, with little regard for the health and safety of everyone concerned &#8212; both the workers and the those using the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leaving manholes completely or partially exposed but with no accompanying signage, or similar, to alert pedestrians and drivers about it, is just one example. They are especially dangerous in Kathmandu for two reasons: one, lack of street lights, which has already been highlighted, and two, rain flooding the streets and hiding them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About a week ago, a primary-school age girl, returning home from school walking along a heavily flooded street, died after falling into one of them, from what I understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another school-age girl also almost lost her life when she fell into a hole also invisible to the eye for the same reason! After being sucked down and carried several meters by the current, she popped up and was miraculously saved. I watched the video of the incident, recorded by one who sounded also young and traumatized by what she was witnessing unfold right in front of her eyes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A buffalo too fell into an open manhole!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All three incidents are documented in <a href=\"https:\/\/setopati.com\/opinion\/62855\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this article<\/a> published last Monday in <em>Setopati<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt;\">The article, rightly points out how we have no record or statistics on mishaps resulting directly or indirectly from the highly irresponsible manner in which road works in general are carried out in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just days ago, a car fell into a sinkhole!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/car-falls-into-sinkhole.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/car-falls-into-sinkhole.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/car-falls-into-sinkhole.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/car-falls-into-sinkhole-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/car-falls-into-sinkhole-250x250.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The following, I came across on Twitter, yesterday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/nosedive-on-the-streets-of-KTM.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/nosedive-on-the-streets-of-KTM.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/nosedive-on-the-streets-of-KTM.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/nosedive-on-the-streets-of-KTM-300x269.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt;\">Again, to reiterate something I have said before, it&#8217;s not that the concerned authorities and departments can&#8217;t do their jobs efficiently and well. They can; they just won&#8217;t, unless they have to for one reason or another, as these two examples will show.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a bent cable pole was jutting out dangerously into the road in Sorakhutte, following a bus crashing into it, within forty-hours <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/kathmandu-can-if-and-when-it-wants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the problem was taken care of<\/a>! A long stretch of road in Samakushi that had been under a constant state of construction for three years, was <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/stalled-roadworks-heres-what-you-can-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fixed within a week<\/a> when the locals raised a stink about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last ten years, <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/on-the-road-not-taken-before-in-nepal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more people have died on the roads than in the ten-year civil war between 1995 and 2005<\/a>! What percentage were due to their poor conditions? We&#8217;ll never know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And no different from how most leaders, politicians and bureaucrats in the country work, following the incidents, the current Prime Minister ordered the open ditches etc. <a href=\"https:\/\/setopati.com\/opinion\/62855\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fixed within 15 days<\/a>! What&#8217;s the Prime Minister doing issuing such directives?! What happens if they are not fixed in 15 days? Will he hold the concerned departments actually accountable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt;\">When will our government officials ever be proactive instead of being reactive like so, as always?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How long before our leaders, politicians and bureaucrat <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/category\/bureaucracy-corruption-in-nepal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plug the holes<\/a> in the way they pretend to serve the country and the people, which really is responsible for the holes on the streets of the city in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, if we were to listen to people like Kishore Thapa, a former bureaucrat and the Sajha Party Kathmandu Metropolitan City mayoral candidate in the recent local elections, we should NOT be calling on the government for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-12310 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"289\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/be-a-citizen-not-royal-subject.jpg\" alt=\"Kishore Thapa on fixing holes and citizenship\" class=\"wp-image-12310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/be-a-citizen-not-royal-subject.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/be-a-citizen-not-royal-subject-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption>&#8220;Let&#8217;s abandon our tendency to seek the government&#8217;s help to fix holes in front of our houses. Let&#8217;s not be royal subjects, let&#8217;s be citizens.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I suspect, Thapa was attempting to say what JFK said a long time ago! \ud83d\ude09 \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/JFK-ask-not.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"209\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/JFK-ask-not.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/JFK-ask-not.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/JFK-ask-not-300x105.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Nice try Kishore Thapa, nice try!! \ud83d\ude00 \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">* * * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References (added after the publication of the post):<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>My Republica<\/em> (Aug. 4, 2017). <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myrepublica.com\/news\/25014\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Narayanghat-Mugling road becoming &#8216;deathtrap&#8217;<\/a>. Highway re-construction work turns fatal for travellers.<\/li><li>The following is a video <em>Nepali Times<\/em> posted on July 31 showing the condition of the roads after the 15-day deadline ended. (Incidentally, like pretty much all two-wheel drivers in Kathmandu, the guy recording the video (a journalist?) also drives around quite recklessly!)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Travel with GoPro in Kathmandu\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/02KJYJI6f1o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>PahiloPost<\/em> (Oct. 27, 2018). <a href=\"http:\/\/pahilopost.com\/content\/20181027134059.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u0915\u093e\u0920\u092e\u093e\u0921\u094c\u0901\u0915\u094b \u091c\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0928\u092e\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0916\u093e\u0932\u094d\u0921\u094b : \u092c\u0932\u094d\u0916\u0941 \u091f\u093f\u092f\u0941 \u0917\u0947\u091f \u0928\u091c\u093f\u0915\u0948\u0915\u094b \u092e\u0902\u0917\u093e\u0932\u0932\u0947 \u0969\u096e \u0935\u0930\u094d\u0937\u0940\u092f \u0938\u093e\u0907\u0915\u0932 \u092f\u093e\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0941\u0915\u094b \u091c\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0928 \u0932\u093f\u092f\u094b<\/a>. Article is about a death of a cyclist after <strong>he fell into a gaping hole on the road and died<\/strong>. [Added on Oct. 29, 2019.]<\/li><li>Nepali Times (Oct. 29, 2019). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nepalitimes.com\/latest\/murder-not-accident\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Murder, not accident<\/a>. Article about the same incident reported above in PahiloPost, but in English. [Added on Oct. 30, 2019.]<\/li><li>A mind-blowing response from someone in position of authority to the above incident, if the following Facebook post is to be believed. He blames the victim!<br><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"407\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15332\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/someone-in-position-of-authority-responds-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/someone-in-position-of-authority-responds-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/someone-in-position-of-authority-responds-1-500x226.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/someone-in-position-of-authority-responds-1-150x68.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/someone-in-position-of-authority-responds-1-768x347.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/>Translation of the text in big letters: &#8220;<span data-offset-key=\"6v68p-0-0\">The worker forgot to replace the cover<\/span>, but pedestrians need to be careful when walking. He wasn&#8217;t and lost his life. Why are we blamed for it?&#8221;<\/li><li><em>Kantipur<\/em> (Sept. 23, 2021) <a href=\"https:\/\/ekantipur.com\/photo_feature\/2021\/09\/23\/16323611989513396.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u0922\u0932\u0915\u094b \u0927\u0930\u093e\u092a : \u091c\u0939\u093e\u0901 \u0916\u0938\u0947\u0915\u093e \u092c\u093e\u0932\u0915 \u092b\u0947\u0932\u093e \u092a\u0930\u0947\u0928\u0928\u094d<\/a> Tuesday night, a child fell into an open hole on the road and disappeared. He hadn&#8217;t been found even by last night. My fears of children falling into open holes especially at night is real. And this isn&#8217;t the first time! [Added Sept. 7, 2021.] <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holes on the streets of Kathmandu engulfing children, animals and vehicles, show there are gaping holes elsewhere too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Holes on the streets of Kathmandu engulfing children, animals and vehicles, show there are gaping holes elsewhere too.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[152],"tags":[430,482],"class_list":["post-12306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kathmandu-mustang-nepal","tag-kathmandu-roads","tag-road-mishaps"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/open-manhole-Samakhushi-feat-image.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Jbro-3cu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}