The State of Urbanization, Land Use and Transport Planning Issues in Kathmandu Valley

The State of Urbanization, Land Use and Transport Planning Issues in Kathmandu

Valley

Padma Sunder JoshiJuly 2004

Historical backdrops

Planning interventions of the past:

Urban growth and land usePopulation

Economic activities and Land Use

Transportation and other infrastructures

The Urban Planning IssuesThe containment issue: urban-rural boundary

Increasing residential densities in the city

Urban decay, the issue of out-migration

De-concentration of economic functions

Transport corridors

Transportation Planning Issues and InterventionsIssues, barriers and opportunities

Options to embark on the transportation issues

Conclusions

Abbreviations

References

Annexes

The State of Urbanization, Land Use and Transport Planning Issues in Kathmandu Valley

P S Joshi 2


The State of Urbanization, Land Use and Transport Planning Issues in Kathmandu

Valley

Padma Sunder Joshi

Historical backdrop

The formal human settlement of Kathmandu Valley goes back to long before Christian era.

Historians agree on the trade function of Kathmandu Valley even from 7 th Century BC to 2nd

Century AD during the Kirat period. Nepal, the original name of Kathmandu Valley was

mentioned in the Kautilya Arthashastra for the export of woolen products. Lanjagvala (present

Lagan), Yambi (present Indrachowk), and Jama (present Jamal) are the first urban settlements of

Kirata in Kathmandu and many others like Khopring (present Bhaktapur) and Patan in the valley

floor, which are further expanded by their successor Lichachhavis (Annex 1). Gunakamdev, in the

11th century reorganized and settled the Kathmandu settlement in the shape of sword of Goddess

Mahalaxmi with 33 Toles encompassing 18000 houses (CDR, 2001). Mallas, their successor

moved their capital to Bhaktapur. Kathmandu still played important role of trade and commerce.

Mallas added grid iron pattern to the radial pattern of Lichachhavi settlements and made it more

compact.

Besides Indo-Tibet trade route, Kathmandu

Valley was blessed with very fertile soil. From

the land use view point, Mallas (and their

predecessors) followed unique concentric

circles in their land management. Keeping

their tantric belief and ecological balance,

their settlements are roughly a three concentric

circles. The humane domain at the centre is

encircled by agricultural domain and

surrounded by divine domain of natural

resources. They left all flood plains for

P S Joshi 3

Devine domain

Agricultural domainHumane

domain

Fig. 1 Concentric Pattern of Human Settlements in Ancient

Kathmandu


agriculture limiting the human settlements to Tar lands. Within human settlements the palace was

kept at the centre surrounded by the elites and followed to lower castes outward. These land use

gave birth to a unique cultural setting of community harmony. Except sleeping and eating almost

all activities and rituals of that time were shared in common places like courtyards, Bahals, Bahi

and other open spaces. There were basically four hierarchies of open spaces and similar four

street levels developed with various scale of functionalities.

Numerous satellite towns like Chapagaon, Pharping, Kirtipur, Thimi, Lubhu, Harisiddhi, Tokha,

Dharmasthali, Sankhu, etc. emerged either to serve the trade route or to deliver auxiliary services

to the three major towns of the valley. The intensive agriculture practices in the fertile valley soil,

trade and commerce based on basically Indo-Tibet trade route, non-agriculture productions,

cumulatively gave the urban character to the valley from the beginning. Thus the major towns of

the valley viz. Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur; and to some extent the satellite towns grew as

the early urban centers of Nepal.

After the unification of Nepal in 1968, the Shah Kings continued Kathmandu as the capital of

new unified Nepal. Migration of Parbate people slowly and gradually occupied foot hill fertile

lands while civil servants, soldiers and other migrants start occupying periphery of the old

settlements like Chettrapati, Thamel and Sundhara areas. During the Rana regime, huge palatial

buildings has encroached the fertile plains destroying the concentric concept of settlements. Their

aids started residing to the vicinity of these palaces. Areas like Thapathali, Lazimpat, Naxal,

Dillibazaar, Ravi Bhawan, and Sanepa are some of the first urban sprawl thus emerged. The Indo-

Tibet trade collapsed after the construction of Kalingpong road in India.

After 1950 the country was open to the world. Being the capital city, Kathmandu attracted people

from all walks of life, mainly after 1960 when it was linked with roadways and air links with rest

of the country. Government employment, education and health facilities, trade and commerce,

tourism and industries were the attractions to Kathmandu which is ever increasing even today.

Addition of several new roadways like Arniko Highway, Prithvi Highway, Trishuli Road, and

several other collector roads have further attracted people to Kathmandu in search of

employments and opportunities. Thus, due to urban sprawl and the vicinity of Kathmandu and

Lalitpur, Greater Kathmandu emerged by the end of the 60s.

Planning interventions of the past:

There were several studies conducted to address the planning need of Kathmandu Valley in the

past. Unfortunately, most of these studies were limited to book selves, suggested plans became

mere academic exercise and some fortunate attempts invalidated in the lack of

P S Joshi 4


comprehensiveness otherwise limited to very local benefits. Including the comprehensive plan of

1969 called Kathmandu Valley Physical Development Plan, at least a dozen major studies and

plans were prepared for the betterment of the valley.

With the support of UN, Kathmandu Valley Physical Development Plan, PDPKV (1969) was

prepared. The main thrust of this plan was to control possible urban sprawls, develop compact

settlements in Tar lands and protecting agricultural land. A land use zoning proposed by the study

(fig. 2 and Annex 7) targeting limiting

population density in city core up to 330

ppha while that for urban fringes (Zone B)

is 150 ppha and 120 to 145 ppha for

proposed new expansions (Zone C). Very

few of the recommendations of the plan

are implemented.

Following the recommendations of 1969

study, land use plan 1976 was introduced

along with a regional implementation

body called Kathmandu Valley Town

Development Committee, KVTDC after

seven years. It introduced several land use

regulations and bye-laws which are still

valid though bit outdated in many

contexts. Political and bureaucratic

interventions in the planning, conflicting

role of the committee and the local bodies

are major causes of its limited success in

the implementation of the plan. Three new

studies followed in 1984, 1986, and 1988.

The Kathmandu Valley Town Planning

Team prepared Kathmandu Valley

Physical Development Concept for the

valley. The team revised the building bye-

laws and producing land use zoning within

the ring road. Unfortunately, the concept

was never formalized (KVTDC, 2002).

The next study was Kathmandu Valley Urban Policy Study, 1986. The policies recommended

by this study made by PADCO/USAID were not followed except few. To address rapid

encroachment of the flood plains of Bagmati, Dhobikhola and Bishnumanti, the third study was

carried out in the name of Urban Development and Conservation Scheme for Greater

P S Joshi 5

Fig. 2 Source: PDPKV 1969


Kathmandu in 1988. In the absence of strong implementation mechanism, huge pressure from

political and local fronts, the intended green corridor approach of river fronts were compromised

to almost nothing. However, this initiation started two new land improvement tools, viz. guided

land development (GLD) and land pooling. The former was instrumental in opening some of the

inner accesses which otherwise would have been never possible; though was an aspirin to the

slum-like urban sprawls. Lack of political commitment and weak governance, GLD ended with

compromises.

A comprehensive study was carried out in 1991 with ADB assistance. The Kathmandu Valley

Urban Development Plans and Programs, KVUDPP, the strategic plan prepared by Halcrow

Fox and Associates, once again advocated densifying the then existing urban sprawls while

allocating some room for future development. Recognizing the weak implementation capabilities

in the past, the study suggested to continue prevailing trends of development with minimum

(necessary) intervention only (KVUDPP, 1991). The fate of this strategic plan also followed its

predecessor as most of its strategies were not translated into doable plans except Kathmandu

Urban Development Project (1994-99). The impact of the project was lost in the downpour of

uncontrolled urbanization. Most of the later studies and policies seem to be guided by this

comprehensive plan.

JICA in 1993 initiate an extensive study of the road and transportation system for the valley

following KVUDPP. This transport study called The Study on Kathmandu Valley Urban Road

Development (1993) is the most intensive study so far prepared looking after the transportation

need of the valley until 2015. Following the guidelines of KVUDPP, it suggested several

scenarios supporting urban planning in the valley. Addition of Bagmati Bridge at Thapathali,

rehabilitating several bridges in the inner roads of Kathmandu, and several road junction

improvements; are some of the projects identified in this study that are implemented. The projects

identified by this study and their present conditions are presented in Annex 4 and 5.

Looking from ecological side, the argument of containment was further carried by the

IUCN/HMGN study called Regulating Growth: Kathmandu Valley (1995). The same report

was produced in the name of Environmental Planning and Management of the Kathmandu

Valley in 1999. Like its predecessors, this report had a usefulness limited to a good reference

book for the planning of Kathmandu Valley.

There are two more important studies carried out until today. Standing on the Local Self-

Governance Act (1999) (LSGA), Kathmandu Metropolitan City prepared City Development

Strategy (CDS) in 2001. This strategic document was prepared in reference with the earlier plans

and participation of its stakeholders. With the report of CDS, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, one

of the major local authorities of the valley posed itself in the scene of planning for the first time.

On the other hand, frustrated with the uncontrolled urbanization, yet challenged by decentralized

P S Joshi 6


governance put forth by the LSGA, the Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee tried

to search their reasons of presence in the scene. There is a strong demand of regional body to

supervise and monitor urban development in the valley, which can not be addressed by one or all

of the local bodies, even they intended to. Here came the Development Plan 2020 of the

Kathmandu Valley. With the obvious disagreements of the local bodies, the plan was approved

by the government on 29 July, 2002. In the absence of the parliament and given political crisis in

the country, further institutional apparatus has not yet been formed for the implementation of the

plan even after two years of its adaptation.

Reiterating the containment of urban sprawl as suggested in 1969 physical plan and further in

succeeding reports and plans (including KVUDPP, 1991) and the serious concern for the

preservation of agricultural land as suggested in Regulating Growth study of IUCN in 1995, this

development plan primarily suggest urban containment policy. The basic flaw in the plan is not

the content but again the contradictions to the institutional and governance setup which is

expected to be more pronounced once the local bodies and parliament are in place.

From the above discussions it may be concluded that the strategic planning has been very much

exercised for the valley. However, there are two prongs of limitations to materialize the strategic

plans. First, there is an absence of doable plans that are detailed-out based on the proposed

strategies. Strategies and policies by nature are vague. Misinterpretation, misleading and

compromises are equally possible if these are not chiseled out into development plans and

programs. In 1998 Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program (1998-2003) was introduced by

Kathmandu Metropolitan City with the support of European Union as an urban development

project for the metropolitan area. Several sectoral projects were detailed out under the program

like Central Sector Development Plan, Eastern Sector Development Plan, North Sector

Development Plan1, etc. Implementation on all or any of these plans would contribute to the

improvement of the valley, which unfortunately, is not owned by respective departments of the

government, neither the frequently changing leaderships of the metropolitan city. Land use map

and development control maps, building regulations and bye laws have been prepared for KMC.

The exercise can be further extended to rest of the valley.

The second limitation, and perhaps more important than the previous one, is to make the local

and national level politicians to understand why containment policy is so important, and what are

the repercussions that the city has to bear if it is not followed. Regrettably, this is perhaps not

possible in the present context of ‘decentralized governance’ in Nepal where political leaders

(local and national, both) are still in the process of maturity in understanding their responsibilities

in the broader context.

1 For better urban management Kathmandu Metropolitan City has divided the metropolitan area into five sectors. KVMP has completed three development plans of the five. There are other plans like traffic management plan, drainage improvement plan, tourism promotion plan, Dhobikhola Corridor development plan, etc.

P S Joshi 7


If these two constrains are recognized in the true sense, appropriate implementation mechanism

can be brought in. Acknowledging Kathmandu Valley as an ecological unit, their problems (and

thus the solutions) are inter-related and inter dependent. A valley wide political and institutional

apparatus is needed to treat the ailment and to progress. The leadership, however, should be given

to the valley, autonomous from the central government.

Urban growth and land use

Population:

Kathmandu was always an attraction to the migrant population, however, the growth rate

drastically changed only after 1981. The growth rate of the valley was 2.14 in 1961~71 jumped to

2.29 in 1971~81, followed by 3.95 in 1981~91. More interesting is the urban growth. The growth

rate of 3.76% of 1971~81 of the urban population leap to 5.91% in 1981~91. It however reduced

to 4.09% in 1991~2001 when only municipal populations are considered as urban. The urban

sprawl crossed the Ring Road in this decade and expanded to more than two dozens of adjoining

and major road linked VDCs. Considering 20 VDCs with annual population growth rate greater

than 4%, the urban population growth marks 6.03%. In these 20 VDCs, the population was 93927

in 1991 which jumped by more than double to 21461 with growth rate of 8.24% in average. The

heavy weights among them are Dhapashi (10.33%), Kapan (12.12%), Jorpati (13.41%), and

Gongabu (13.46%) (all northern Kathmandu VDCs) according to the Census 2001. Due to the

engulfment of rural area into urban sprawls, the rural population even showed negative by -3.12%

suggesting the robust urban expansion in lateral direction (refer Annex 2).

P S Joshi 8

Table 1. Growth of Population in Kathmandu Valley

Census year Total Urban Rural1920 306909 -

1952/54 410995 196777 2142181961 459990 218092 2418981971 618911 249563 3693481981 766345 363507 4028381991 1105379 598528 5068512001 1581234 995966 585268

2001* 1581234 1210127 371107* Urban population including urbanizing VDCs with annual popln. growth rate >4%

Source: IUCN, 1999 and CBS, 2001


The rate of population increase in municipalities, especially in large municipalities like

Kathmandu and Lalitpur are showing declining rate (ref. Table 2) partly due to the filling

of the area. The city of Kathmandu is even showing negative population growth in some

of its core wards, suggesting an early sign of urban decay. Out of its 35 wards 12 wards

are having population growth rate -3 ~ 0%, 13 wards having 0 ~4%, 9 wards having

4~7% and 5 wards having growth rate greater than 7%.

Table 2. Population Growth Rate of the Municipalities of Kathmandu Valley

Year

Kathmandu M.

Lalitpur M. Bhaktapur M. Madhyapur M.

Kirtipur M.

Popln.

GRate%

Popln.

GRate%

Popln.

GRate%

Popln.

GRate%

Popln.

GRate%

1971

150402

59049

40112

20640

20814

1981

235160

4.47 79875

3.02 48472

1.89 26076

2.34 24406

1.59

1991

421258

5.83 115865

3.72 61405

2.37 31970

2.04 31338

2.50

2001

671846

4.67 162991

3.41 72543

1.67 47751

4.01 40835

2.65

Data source: CBS

The gross population density, an important indicator, showed that Kathmandu Metropolitan City,

with its highest score in 2001 from 84 to 135 ppha followed by Bhaktapur from 97 to 114 ppha,

and Lalitpur from 76 to 107 ppha It is worthwhile to note that in the same period Jorpati VDC

increased the density from 15 to 58 ppha with 387% increase in a decade. Gongabu saw 380%

and Kapan 330%. While guided by the urban containment policy, it is important to note the

optimal and desirable population densities in Kathmandu. At present, with in the municipal

boundaries of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the city core scored the highest density of 578

reduced from 613 from 1991. In rest of the sectors, the densities are still far from expected.

Development Plan 2020 suggests to have optimal population density of 500 ppha and at least 300

ppha would be the target (KVTDC, 2000)

Table 3. Population and Densities in the Sectors of Kathmandu Metropolitan City

1991 2000Sectors of KMC KMC

WardsArea Sq KM

Popln.

1991

Popln. Density of the sector ppha

Popln.

2001

Popln. Density of the sector ppha

P S Joshi 9


Kathmandu City Core

12,17 - 28,30

2.75 115614

613 116885

578

Kathmandu City Centre

1,5,11,31 - 33

6.86 72425

114 99502

156

Kathmandu East Sector

6-10, 34,35

18.61

106896

69 224840

133

Kathmandu North Sector

2 - 4, 16, 29

13.77

79312

69 133969

109

Kathmandu West Sector

13,14,15 9.03 52798

60 96650

110

Own calculation, Source data: CBS, 1991, 2001

The population projections made by various studies are presented in Table 4. It shows that the

reality has crossed the projections made by KVUDPP in 1991. Although, the population growth

projected by IUCN in its study report of Regulating Growth is conservative, the urban/rural

distributions of all the studies are left far behind by the actual growth pattern. The projected

urban/rural ratio by Development Plan 2020 for 2021 is already crossed in 2001. It is important

that the decision makers hear these wakeup calls, which however is already delayed for

response.

Table 4. Projected Population of Kathmandu Valley from Various Studies

Report Year 2000 2001 2006 2011 2015 2016 2021 2031Actual (CBS, 2001)

Urban 1210127

% 77 Rural 37110

7

% 23 Total 15812

34

KVUDPP

Urban 683145

1126912

% 56 61 Rural 54442

2 73272

0

% 44 39 Total 12275

67 18596

32

Regulating

Growth

Urban 1071872

1434407

1919560

2568805

% 63 67 71 74 Rural 63750

871497

180184

6 89927

7

% 37 33 29 26

P S Joshi 10


Total 1709380

2149378

2721406

3468082

Development Plan 2020

Urban 1046186

1442762

1968904

2661700

% 67 71 76 80Rural 52549

8 57764

2 62833

467706

0% 33 29 24 20Total 15716

84 20204

04 25972

3833387

60Data Sources: CBS, 2001; KVUDPP, 1991; IUCN,1999; KVTDC 2002

Economic activities and Land Use:

The pace of recent urban growth in the valley geared up only after the 1980s. Even until 1981 the

three fourth of the population of Kathmandu Valley were primarily dependent on agriculture

(CBS, 1981). In 1991 this dominant share of agriculture reduced to even just slightly above one

third of the then population. It was further declined to less than 30% in 2001 (refer Fig. 3). The

jump of population from agriculture to non-agriculture is mainly due to the migrant population

based on non-agriculture economy, loss of agriculture land to urban expansions, and attraction of

local population to non-agricultural activities leaving agriculture as supplementary in real

household income. Within urban areas, the population overwhelmingly relying on non-

agricultural income went as low as 3% (Subba, 2003 cf CBS 1997). The boom of carpet and

garment industries in the 90s was one of the major rural population pull towards the valley. In

2001, the employment share of secondary manufacturing sector grew to 19.9% while that of the

tertiary service sector (including retail, hotel, transportation, finance, real estate, personal and

community services, etc.) went even as high as 51.4% (Subba, 2003).

P S Joshi 11


The shift may be attributed to the economic liberalization policy of the government where

remarkable increase was observed in the number of financial institutions, trade and commerce,

and hotel and tourism industries. Mushrooming of educational institutions- private schools and

colleges, private hospitals and nursing homes; are the other driving forces that attracted more

migrants to the valley. Majority of the colleges of Pokhara University and Purwanchal University

are established in Kathmandu against the intent of their establishment to decentralize the higher

education opportunities to western and eastern part of the country, respectively.

Recent insurgency in the country has further pushed the rural population to the valley in the quest

of safety, security and opportunities. In the land market it was observed that the boom period of

1991~95 slacked after 1996 till 1999. The insurgency may be the driving force which once again

triggered the market after 2000. One of the important sources of such investment was remittance

which could float the economy even after the downturn due to the political instability (Subba,

2003). These economic dynamics have a sure impact on the land use. The prime agricultural land

P S Joshi 12

Fig. 3 Economically Active Population (EAP) of the KV by Industrial Category in different

Census Years

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

AGR M&Q MAF EGW CON COM T&C FBS PCS ONS

Industrial Category

Per

cen

tag

e

1981 (EAP 330,713) 1991 (EAP 403635) 2001 (EAP 663105)

AGR: Agriculture, forestry and fishing, M&Q: Mining and Quarrying, MAF: Manufacturing, EGW: Electricity, Gas and Water, CON: Construction, Com: Commerce (wholesale, retail, hotel, restaurants), T&C: Transportation and Communication; FBS: Finance, Real estate, Rental and Business Service, PCS: Personal and Community service, ONS: Others, Not stated.

Source: Subba, 2003


is deep penetrated into even more than three kilometers from ring road for non-agricultural

purposes, primarily residential. Shifting of large schools and colleges to the hinterland has

certainly attracted more people to these urban sprawls. With the rise of financial institutions,

housing loan is one more

significant factor that has

helped to increase the

land market in the later

years of the period. One

of the recent study

showed that the number

of construction permit

taken in Jorpati, Kapan

and Gongabu VDCs in

the second half of 2003

was 289, 192, and 107

respectively. Jorpati

VDC alone housed 702

houses in 18 months

from 2002 July to 2003

December2.

The conspicuous change

in the landscape of

Kathmandu Valley

shows the pace of

urbanization at the cost

of prime agricultural

land. The resource value

based land management

concept of the valley

was given up long time back by the rulers. PDPKV in 1969 already saw the possible

consequences of urban sprawl. Thus the main thrust of all the studies suggested for the urban

containment directly or indirectly. However, very few and weak initiatives were taken until now.

64% of the total land in 1984 was under agriculture (Annex 7). It declined to 52% in 1994 and

further dropped to less than 42% in 2000. Conversely, non-agriculture land expanded to 27.6% in

2000 from just 5.6% in 1984, following 15.2% in 1994. Kathmandu valley observed per annum

750+ ha of land conversion to urban use between 1984 and 1994 which jumped to 950+ ha

between 1994 and 2000 (KVTDC, 2002). Thus the starfish shaped urban sprawl already crossed

the border of the ring road (Fig 4). Table 5 shows the land use trend of the Kathmandu Valley.

2 Field survey

P S Joshi 13


Table 5. Land Use Trend of the Kathmandu Valley3

SN Land Use Area in ha for years1984 % 1994 % 2000 %

1 Agriculture 40,950.3

64.0

33,308.3

52.1

27,570.0

41.40

2 Forest 19,438.7

30.4

20,945.2

32.7

20,677.0

31.00

3 Non-agriculture 3,574.7

5.6 9,710.2

15.2

18,408.0

27.60

3.1 Urban use (3,095.5)

4.8 (8,377.6)

(6,915.0)

10.40

3.1.1

Residential 3,510.1

4,829.0

7.30

3.1.2

Mixed residential/commerci

al

4,670.5

423.0

0.60

3.1.3

Commercial na 19.0

0.03

3.1.4

Industrial 197.0 210.0

0.32

3.1.5

Institutional na 518.0

0.77

3.1.6

Military na 150.0

0.23

3.1.7

Public utilities na 28.0

0.04

3.1.8

Transportation na 310.0

0.47

3.1.9

Special area na 272.0

0.41

3.1.10

Recreational/open space

na 156.0

0.23

3.2 Rural area (10997.0)

16.50

3.2.1

Residential na 2,592.7

3.2.2

Rural settlement na 8,404.3

3.3 Water bodies

3 Note: there are some discrepancies in the numbers of the table which however is as presented in the source document.

P S Joshi 14


479.2 582.5 496.0 3.4 Others (abandoned

land, airport, pond, etc.)

750.1

Total 63,963.7

63,963.7

66,655.0

100.00

Source: KVTDC, 2002

The government after 1976 initiated to intervene with planned land development packages like

site and service development and land pooling. After the completion of first land development

project of Kuleshwor, all other projects were either initiated or converted to land pooling project

for perhaps in the ground of social justice. In the earlier years land development projects had to

face sever opposition from the affected (or beneficiary) people due to elongated project period,

low confidence towards the government projects, and lack of successful examples of such

projects. Until today,

251.7 ha of land has

been developed under

13 land development

projects. There are six

more projects under

implementation

covering additional

446.5 ha (Annex 6).

How encouraging may

be the result of these

projects, they have

nominal contribution to

the size of land market

of the valley.

Transportation

and other

infrastructures:

The radial pattern of

urban roads in

Kathmandu is

connected by the ring

P S Joshi 15

Table 6. Road Length in Three Districts of Kathmandu Valley* (KM)

Classification

District Blacktopped

Gravelled

Earthen

Total

National Highway

Lalitpur 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Bhaktapur

14.12 0.00 0.00 14.12

Kathmandu

18.85 0.00 0.00 18.85

Feeder Road

(Major)


23.00 0.00 0.00 23.00

Kathmandu

17.05 0.00 0.00 17.05

Feeder Road

(Minor)


0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Kathmandu

41.19 0.00 0.00 41.19

District Road

Lalitpur 34.00 39.90 121.40

195.30

Bhaktapur

25.50 42.50 46.00 114.00

Kathmandu

82.70 104.96

105.93

293.59

Urban Road

Lalitpur 84.00 16.00 8.00 108.00

Bhaktapur

20.00 8.00 2.00 30.00

Kathmandu

339.50

70.65 32.00 442.15

724.91

290.58

315.57

1331.06

*The length of road in Kathmandu Valley will be slightly less that the total of the three districts. Source: DoR, 2001


road outside Greater Kathmandu. These roads are either linking the rural settlements or the

historic satellite towns. In last two decades some urban roads are added under GLD program of

KVTDC. These roads, however serve not more than a local access with few exceptions. The

various road types and its corresponding lengths are given in Table 6. The average road density of

the valley is slightly above 14m per hectare, which amounts the road surface area to tentatively

5~6% of the net developable land (KVTDC, 2002). Except Tundikhel corridor, road linking

Kathmandu and Lagankhel, Ramshah Path, Madan Bhandari Path (the airport road), Ganesh Man

Singh Path (Teku road) and the ring road; all other roads are less than two lanes or two lanes.

JICA in 1993 estimated that almost 80% of the roads in Kathmandu Valley are of one lane. In the

absence of urban road standard and its management regulations, the capacities of these narrow

roads are further deteriorated with improper geometry and uncontrolled connections. Traffic

behavior is yet another major cause of congestion in Kathmandu Valley. It is worthwhile to note

that the intersections in the road network, rather than the road sections itself are largely

determining the road system capacity constraint.

Mode of transportation in the valley is very much assorted. Of the total fleet in the streets of

Kathmandu, 66% is occupied by motorcycles, 24% by private car and jeeps while the bus,

minibus and three wheelers occupy only 5% of the total4. High number of low occupancy

vehicles like motorbikes do not resemble with the traffic space constraints faced by Kathmandu

Valley.

Table 7. Year-wise Vehicle Population in Bagmati Zone

Vehicle Type

1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999/2000

2000/01

1.Bus 792 958 1045 1163 1298 1403 1487 21872.Minibus 1352 1388 1430 1468 1500 1527 1567 22643.Truck/Tanker

3343 3781 4113 4483 4759 4811 5090 5685

4.Car/Jeep/ Van

20748

22640

24248

27153

28915

30919

31587 41595

5.Three wheeler automobile

3844 3844 3844 3844 3925 4262 4003 4788

6.Two wheeler automobile

37774

43506

49299

58029

64142

71612

74128 113660

7.Tractor 1623 1635 1670 1672 1672 1672 1672 16728.Others 2561 2678 3012 3020 3278 3311 3278 554Total 72,0

3180,4

3088,6

61100,831

109,489

117,836

122,812

172,405

4 The numbers presented in the table is for Bagmati Zone. Considering the population concentration assumption is made to have the similar proportion of vehicles in Kathmandu Valley.

P S Joshi 16


Source: DoTM

Detailed studies have not been done in this area after 1993 study of JICA. The latest study done

by Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program provides relatively good information, though more

KMC centered5. KVMP has divided the city of Kathmandu into five urban sectors and considered

Lalitpur (the remaining part of Greater Kathmandu) as the sixth for the planning and management

purposes (refer Fig. 5)

The central function of Kathmandu City Core (KCC) and Central Sector (KCS) influxes people

from other sectors and hinterland of Greater Kathmandu. They commute as workers and visitors

with a range of businesses, commercial, social and recreational interests. Location of major

governmental buildings, the Central Business District (as identified in KVUDPP, 1991) and the

central market role of the city core of Kathmandu are the major purpose of these visits. Besides,

tourism, religion and festivities are yet other causes of attraction. The daily passenger travel

demand of Kathmandu Valley population with origin and/or destination i.e. the Greater

Kathmandu oriented trips is roughly estimated as 1.65 million (passenger trips per day). Table 8

shows the external daily traffic generation roughly estimated by KVMP from the hinterlands of

Greater Kathmandu.

5 As the scope of the program limited to Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

P S Joshi 17


Based on the previous reports and minimal series of sample traffic counts KVMP estimated the

modal split for daily passenger travel as presented in Table 9.

P S Joshi 18

Table 8. External Daily Traffic Generation Estimation between Greater Kathmandu and

the HinterlandDirection of traffic flow

South-east (direction Thimi, Bhaktapur, etc.) 150000North-east (direction Sankhu, etc.) 40000North (direction Budhanilkanta, etc.) 20000North-west (direction Ranipauwa, etc.) 20000West (direction Thankot, etc.) 30000South-west (direction Kirtipur, Chobhar, etc.) 50000South (direction Bungamati, Chapagaon, Godawori, Tikathali, etc.)

20000

Source: KVMP (MR4), 2001

Fig. 5 Sector Map Kathmandu and Lalitpur Intra and Inter Sector Traffic Flow

Source: KVMP, 2001

Lalitpur Sector, LAL

East Sector, KES

Central Sector,KCS

North Sector, KNSCity Core, KCC

West Sector, KWS


Table 9. Modal Split in Kathmandu Valley

Mode of transport

Average peak hour modal split % of daily

passenger travel

No. of Vehicl

es

No. of passeng

ers

% Vehicles

% Passeng

ersPublic transportation

5289 93872 19.3 63.5 56.5

Motorcycles 11633 15123 42.5 10.2 5.8Pass. Car + taxi

4457 7593 16.3 5.1 5.3

Bicycle 5996 5996 21.9 4.1 4.3Pedestrian 25349 17.1 18.1Total 27375 147933 100 100 100

Source: KVMP (MR4), 2001

It is obvious from the table that the public transportation has an important role to play in the

mobility of the people. They take a share of 45% of the total PCU-kilometer performance (KVMP

(MR4), 2001). While comparing the current demand for urban road space in the peak hour the

rough estimate is 150, 000 PCU-km/peak hour with an estimated urban road network capacity

(equally rough) estimate is 160,000 PCU-km/ hour suggesting the peak hour traffic is close to

‘saturation’ with available road network capacity.

There are only two major bus parks in the valley; viz. Gongabu Bus Park catering inter-regional

buses and Old Bus Park near Tundikhel designated for inter-city and local buses. Other local bus

parks include three in Lalitpur, one each in Bhaktapur, Kirtipur and Madyapur and all other

destination locations like Budhanilakantha, Thankot, Godawari, Lubhu, etc. The bus parks of

Kathmandu are over crowded and poorly managed. In the absence of parking space (especially

for the east bound buses) several unauthorized parking can be seen in the ring road and along

Araniko Highway. Parking facilities for private vehicles in the central locations of the valley are

getting more and more difficult. Few privately managed vehicle parking lots and the roadside

parkings managed by municipalities or local wards are not sufficient causing traffic congestion in

the central areas.

Kathmandu Valley is relatively better infrastructure served compared to rest of the country.

However it is facing environmental problems in three fronts. Drinking water is being one of the

biggest constraints to the ever-increasing population of Kathmandu. Present capacity of Nepal

Water Supply Corporation could satisfy only 130 MLD in the rainy season, which drops to 90

MLD in dry season. On the other hand the demand in 2001 is estimated to be 177 MLD. Using

shallow wells or compromising the sanitation fulfills part of this gap. The long waited Melamchi

Water Supply Scheme has further shifted its completion date to the year 2008. There is no

P S Joshi 19


reliable ground that this date will not be further pushed back. Two major environmental problems

emerged as the consequence of population growth, unplanned and poor management of the

valley. There are three wastewater treatment systems, which however are not in operation. The

new Guhyaswori Waste water Treatment Plant is also at the verge of closure due to budgetary

constraint6. Discharging of raw wastewater directly into the river system has converted all natural

rivers into open drains causing soil and water pollution in the valley and beyond. Another

notorious pollutant is the smoke in the air. Smoke from the brick kilns, industries, and the

vehicular emissions has left Kathmandu one the most polluted cities in the world (CEN/ENPHO,

2003)

The Urban Planning Issues:

In the outset of these urbanization trends, i.e. urban sprawl and development of slum-like

condition, urban containment was the policy advocated by all principal plans prepared so far.

Frustratingly, none of these plans and programs was seriously implemented from last three and

half decades. Hence the urban explosion of Kathmandu took place. This may be attributed to two

major political causes: ‘do-nothing’ development approach to the valley; and failure of

development efforts in rest of the country. Although, Nepal has tried to introduce various regional

development approaches from the first planned development initiatives, in real sense the

translation of these plans never succeeded in the reality. It is not because of the success of

Kathmandu people are migrating in; rather it is the failure of the development in the rest of the

country that made people giving up the rural in search of new hopes. If former would have been

the case, the fate of the valley would not be with rampant growth that we are facing today.

Therefore, the basic flaw in the development of Kathmandu may be the institutional and

managerial. Unless and until these weaknesses are addressed properly any initiative to improve

Kathmandu will be in vain.

In its Development Plan 2020, KVTDC proposed the Development Vision of Kathmandu Valley

as historical, cultural, tourism, and capital region of the country. It also advocated going for

environment friendly, and non-labor intensive industries to make the city economically vibrant

(KVTDC, 2002). Kathmandu Metropolitan City in its City Development Strategy, offered the

similar vision of the city as an administrative, cultural and tourism centre including the regional

venue for sports and convention (CDR, 2001). The drivers to urban growth may be positively

guided by the vision of the city as an administrative, cultural, tourism, trade and commerce based

capital region. In the context of carpet, garment, and similar industries still surviving in the valley

on the one hand, and the given political crisis of the country on the other, the negative drivers are

6 Reported by a staff in the personal communication with the author.

P S Joshi 20


still pushing the population into the valley. In the process of maturation of the city, the secondary

jobs are keeping the larger population.

Valley as a planning unit, functional hierarchy of different level development nodes, land use-

transportation linkage, land use efficiency are the major strategic approaches taken in the

Development Plan 2020. Proximity and accessibility based planning, access to functional open

space, livable community, limiting development within designated urban area and avoid growth

in natural risk prone and environmentally sensitive areas were further strategic guidelines

followed in the plan.

1. The containment issue: urban-rural boundary:The urban containment strategy suggested by PDPKV (1969) was more explicitly proposed by

KVUDPP (1991), which however was never adopted as a policy. Once again Development Plan

2020 reiterated the same policy proposal of containment. The later plan has strongly advocated

for the demarcation of the boundary to keep the ecological balance of the valley. The imaginary

line proposed by the 2020 report (refer figure in Annex 7) is expected to accommodate the

projected population of ~2.6 million by the year 2021 with the built/non-built area ratio of 40:60

against the 28:72 of the present (i.e. 2000). This is the upper limit of the ratio from the ecological

point of view. No such research has undertaken but it is believed that today more urbanites are

constructing new residences outside the administrative boundaries of Greater Kathmandu than

within. The main reasons are cheaper land, cheaper building permits and very limited building

control in the rural VDCs surrounding the cities. Also improved road infrastructure and public

transport make a longer travel distance to the cities still acceptable. Altogether this urban sprawl

and collateral reduction of rurality is daily criticized, no any policies have yet been adopted or

actions undertaken to discourage sub-urbanization (Ziegler, 2001).

The containment policy can be materialized by introducing an ordinance which will allow new

construction (leaving the old settlements with buffer area) only in the areas where the set standard

of infrastructure is available. Furthermore, the delineation of expansion area in the cadastral map

(if not possible in the field due to financial reasons) should be permanently highlighted. Private

sector can be attracted to build the infrastructure in the urban expansion zone using several

planning tools like land pooling. In case of land use, defining an urban land is very much

important in case of Nepal where there is land categorization based on the productivity only.

2. Increasing residential densities in the city:The unabated urban sprawl as a consequence, did not support the aspiration of the planners to

have high residential densities in the Greater Kathmandu. The urban sprawl has already reached

the 10 kilometer radial fringes while leaving the city centers with the density of not more that 150

P S Joshi 21


ppha (Refer Table 3) half of the expected density of 300 ppha (optimal being 500 ppha) as

suggested in Development Plan 2020. However, rather than prescribing such densities as a

wishful aim, it is more important to find ways and means to encourage more intensive

development in the city.

The urban rural boundary, if strictly enforced, will reduce land supply and eventually increase

urban land prices. This will induce the construction of more floor space and lead to more compact

development and higher, more-storied buildings. It will also affect the land market and eventually

the configuration of land uses in the city by simulating non-(revenue) productive activities to

more to other areas of lesser cost. For instance, this may be the case for many of the military

camps and sites in the city and other government complexes. Several other tools like land and

house tax mechanism, building bye laws with plot coverage ratio, etc. can encourage the

densification. The infrastructural planning needs to follow the densification policy for the

particular area.

3. Urban decay, the issue of out-migration:The internal migration within the development sectors of the municipalities or the fringes is

offering one more challenge to the planners. Most of the previous plans have not addressed this

issue as strongly as needed. Unlike the migration of people from old settlements like Lubhu,

Tokha or even Bhaktapur, who are attracted by opportunities offered in Greater Kathmandu, out

migration of people from the city core of Kathmandu and Lalitpur is taking place for some other

reasons. The space constrains, changed lifestyle, other competing uses in commercial pockets,

and the environmental degradation are the major causes of their migration. A study done by

KVMP to upgrade a historical neighborhood called Ganchanani in Kathmandu, found that 32% of

the houses are of absentee landlords, most of which are in dilapidated condition and either vacant

or rented to urban poor (KVMP (IN5), 2001). This may be the reason of the census data showing

negative population rise in the city core of Kathmandu. Out of the 14 wards of the Kathmandu

City Core, 11 wards have shown the sign of out migration (Annex 2), seriously demanding

revitalization initiatives in the core city. This might be the case of other old settlements in the

valley.

4. Deconcentration of economic functions:Kathmandu is familiar with mixed type of land use from the beginning. Most of the economic

centers emerged unplanned. The city cross section shows a profile of the city where some

economic undercurrents are pulling and pushing various economic functions. The city cores are

attracting more tourism oriented activities; institutions are lining up in good traffic service areas;

and hospitals are pulling out from congested areas to more calm but accessible areas.

Transportation related activities are lining up in the major corridors or ring road areas and

P S Joshi 22


negative amenities such as polluting industries are pushed back to outer fringe of the valley.

Utilizing these natural forces, urban planners should cluster the activities and close the loop of

resources. This will help to efficiently manage the traffic requirements and balance the

development of the city.

5. The direction of city growth:At present Greater Kathmandu is expanding spontaneously in almost all directions, generally

following outgoing radial roads. The starfish shaped expansion of Kathmandu Valley is adopted

by KVUDPP to follow under its ‘natural forces’ scenario which is further continued by the

Development Plan 2020. No systematic investigations are known to have yet been undertaken

that suggest which areas in Greater Kathmandu are technically more feasible and more

economical to develop in the short term than others. The completed Sinamangal Land Pooling

Project and proposed Manahara Land Pooling Project, along with recently built Thimi-Gokarna

Bypass have triggered the urban sprawl also in the fertile green belt between Kathmandu and

Thimi which are supposed to be conserved for the ecological purposes. There is plenty of flat

land still available west of the ring road and has been earmarked for predominantly residential

development. The generally sparsely occupied areas north of the Ring Road still have vast spare

capacity for further infill and urban densification. Besides the radial expansion, the east-west

transportation corridor between Thankot and Banepa are of particular importance from the

expansion of the city.

6. Transport corridors:KVUDPP proposed a first series of major new transportation corridors for Greater Kathmandu in

1991. This network was expanded with proposals for additional corridors by JICA in 1993. Three

major areas of interventions were proposed in the JICA study. Promoting east west corridor (ie

Thankot – Banepa) as national transportation corridor of the nation; improving traffic flow inside

Greater Kathmandu through constructing inner ring road, widening and adding new links, and

improving geometry and amenities in the existing roads. The third proposition may be

summarized as the road development to cater the wave of outward shift of the urban area. This

among others include widening of nine radial roads to the development nodes, integration of three

city centers; and at the later phase, eastern link of outer ring road joining Budhanilakantha,

Thimi, Lubhu and Bungmati as a collector road for the area. (Refer map in Annex 4). After 11

years, very few of the proposals are implemented in an indiscriminate manner having nominal

effect of improvement. Looking towards the future, it is advisable to ensure that no construction

should take place and land be reserved in these proposed corridors for the future construction of

the roadways. It is important that demarcation of these corridors be made on the respective land

use map and cadastral maps to protect it by buying for residential or other purposes than

agriculture.

P S Joshi 23


The east west corridor mentioned above have an important role to play in the land use of the

valley. In last five years or so Nepalese newspapers have covered three or more ‘for sure’

alternative routes to connect Terai from south of the valley. This road (if any case materialized)

would strengthen the east west corridor. From the land use view point, the corridor and its

influence area will be occupied by light industries and industries related to transportation sector,

including construction industries. The only inter-regional bus terminal at Gongabu may not cater

the additional traffic generated by Sindhuli Road nor could provide appropriate location.

Therefore, another inter-regional bus terminal is required preferably close to the east-west and

possible southern links (refer map in Annex 4). The immediate need of such terminal can be

realized by observing the unauthorized bus parking and terminal services delivered from

Koteshwor and surrounding areas at present.

Few years ago a study was conducted for Department of Roads to search for the most appropriate

and economical alignment of the Outer Ring Road. The transport demand analysis of this study is

very weak but makes evidently clear that traffic flows on this road, even after 15 years of its

completion will still be too low to justify the high investment cost in this about 60 km long

highway, at least for many years to come. Regrettably, the government has earmarked some

budget to start the project this fiscal year 2004/05. The consequence of this will sure bring more

urban sprawl against the policy proposition of Development Plan 2020. This is once again the

repetition of the mistake of addressing the problem from supply side management against the

demand side management. Instead, using this investment capital to advance construction of one

or more of the urban corridors would be a much more useful proposition.

Transportation Planning Issues and Interventions:

Issues, barriers and opportunitiesTransportation planning, a subset of urban planning, is geared to meet the overall planning

objectives. As depicted in the Development Plan 2020, the transportation goal should

continuously aim at enhancing its overall efficiency by reducing the congestion level, decreasing

the energy consumption and improving the air quality (KVTDC, 2002). Economy, efficiency,

reliability, quality of service and safety are the major factors in choosing the mode of

transportation. Being a nervous system of a city life, transportation planning have direct affect to

all six urban planning issues mentioned above, and vise versa.

The major issues of transportation planning in Kathmandu Valley are facilitating land use and

containment policy, traffic congestion issues, road safety and poor traffic behavior, poor

performance of public transport system, upholding non-motorized transport, air pollution, and

institutional issues and financing.

P S Joshi 24


Transportation planning in Kathmandu Valley has three major externalities; viz. limited land

resource and topography of the valley, ever increasing population, and poor economic base. The

internalities among others are weak implementation capabilities, poor traffic behavior, and mixed

transportation mode. Almost 20% of the traffic is pedestrians, 60% of the commuters use public

transportation (KVMP (MR4), 2001), and private sector involvement in the service sector of

transportation are the strengths of the sector.

Options to embark on the transportation issues

1. Addressing the land use and containment policyIn these externalities, internalities and the strengths, one should seek the solution to the belated

comprehensive transportation planning of the valley. One of the tools proposed to implement the

containment policy and densification of existing urban spaces is the judicial offer of

infrastructure; transportation perhaps being the most important one. In the uncontrolled

development scenario of the valley, this could be one of the strong tools for the containment and

densification. If demand side management (DSM) is the strategy to adopt, except widening and

improving radial roads, adding new major roads in the outer periphery of the urban-rural

boundaries will be counterproductive at least for next decade or so. On the other hand, adding

new road lengths and improving the capacity of the existing ones should get the priority in the

transportation infrastructure side. Equally important is the management of traffic generating

activities. There are several road projects already identified which will have positive impact to the

containment policy while reducing the congestion at least for some time to come. Mention to

some are:

o Inner ring road sectors (Bishnumanti corridor, Dhobikhola Corridor, Bagmati Corridor

extended to ring road at Balkumari, the northern link joining Sohrakhutte-Uttardhoka-

Tangal-Dhobikhola)

o Widening of Pashupati Sadak, Thirbam Sadak, Museum Marg, Buddha Nagar-Subidha

Nagar Link, Pulchowk-Bagdol Road, etc.

Refer Road and Access Upgrading Plan for details of these and several other roads prepared by

KVMP in 2002. It is estimated that additional road capacity provided by 10~12 km new (main)

road length might add up to 15% to the estimated, present urban road network (peak hour)

capacity (KVMP (MR4), 2001)

Unbalanced distribution of the services within the city centre is not only detrimental to land use

efficiency; moreover, it generates unnecessary traffic further congesting the already scarce road

space. Therefore, distribution of urban services is significant from transportation demand

generation point of view. Present schooling practice can be a worst example where buses of each

and every popular school pass through almost all the nooks and corners of Greater Kathmandu

P S Joshi 25


(many to Bhaktapur as well) at least twice a day. Hence, through licensing policies to the services

it can be distributed as necessary.

2. Addressing traffic congestion issue:The primary source of traffic congestion is the ever increasing number of vehicle fleet in the

street. From 1991 to 2001, the number of vehicles tripled (from 54776 to 172405) while the road

stock of the valley did not show any marked changes. Sustaining such a huge number and there is

no sign of decline is obviously the main cause of present congestion. Few roads like Tundikhel

corridor, Devkota Sadak (New Baneshwor-Old Baneshwor road), Bhakti Thapa Sadak (Singha

Durbar-New Baneswor road), Teku-Sanepa road, etc. are widened by one lane each. Some

bridges are renovated, other few saw surface improvements. Recently ten major junctions were

improved with the support of JICA. The overall effect is nominal to the increasing number of

fleet. Adopting the demand side management strategy here are some of the observations and

suggestions as depicted in several other studies as well.

As more and more intersections in Kathmandu Valley are reaching its saturation, the urban road

network capacity is depending, in most of the cases, on the capacity of the intersections rather

than on the capacity of the sections in between. Consequently, there is nominal improvement on

the congestion of the road stretch by widening the road. Therefore, priority should be given to

improve the intersections where ever possible. The results of these efforts (adding traffic lights,

improving geometry of the junction in the given space limitations, etc.) however, will be modest

as much can not be expected in the given limitations. Flyovers will only the solutions left where

the space availability permits (like in Maitighar, Tripureswor or Kalimati).

Another physical improvement that can help to increase the capacity of road (from preferred

mode of transportation) is introducing traffic calming measures like physical barriers to avoid

unnecessary disturbance from right turning vehicles of narrow lane junctions, safe walkways for

pedestrians and cyclists, reclaiming space available between structures (ABS) which otherwise is

encroached by petty business of the roadside dwellers. There are several options to go for

rearranging the ABS depending on preferences, priorities and preferred mode of transportation.

Comprehensive network plan- classified urban road network and secondary road networks will

also help improving the congestion situation.

Modal shift towards more road-space-efficient vehicles

is an important approach to dealing with congestion.

Table 10 shows the advantage of utilizing large bus

against private car, taxi or motorbikes. There are

several methods of discouraging private vehicles while

attracting towards public transportation. Limited

P S Joshi 26

Table 10. The efficiency of type of

vehiclesType of vehicle Passenger

KM/ PCU-KM

Large bus 11Microbus & tempo

8

Taxi 1Passenger car 2Motorcycle 5Bicycle 5

Source KVMP (MR7), 2001


parking space, less priority lane for passenger cars, and taxation instruments are some of the tools

widely adopted world wide to discourage increasing number of private vehicles.

3. Road safety and poor traffic behaviorEven with such a low speed of vehicular movement in Kathmandu, there is alarming number of

road accidents, mainly due to non-adherence of traffic rules, poor road quality like pot-holed

surface, visibility and geometry. Mixed

traffic coupled with bulling traffic

behavior is the major source of traffic

accidents.

Table 11 shows the majority of the

victims of road accidents in Kathmandu

are pedestrians, followed by the bicyclist.

If planners want to encourage non-

motorized vehicles, a serious attention is

needed to address the causes of the

accidents. Segregation of different mode

of traffic, enforcement of traffic

regulations from preventive side, and

mass education campaign may be the

primary measures to improve the

situations.

In the absence of any urban road

standard, construction and maintenance

of urban road is done in haphazard

manner. One obvious example would be the big level difference of the road surface with the

manhole cover of sanitary drains. Visibility and adequate light during evening hours, smooth

geometric junctions, road signs and road space occupancy for incompatible use, etc. need to be

addressed to improve safety in the urban streets of Kathmandu. Institutional issue is important

here as there are six institutions are directly responsible for urban roads and its amenities (viz.

DoR, DoTM, municipalities, NEA, NWSC, traffic police). Bringing the functions under one

umbrella would be advisable.

The traffic behavior is not only responsible for majority of the accidents but also for the

congestions. Discouraging the ‘first me’ mentality of the traffic movement, much can be achieved

both in congestion and reduction in accidents. Carrot and stick could be a better tool for this

besides traffic education.

P S Joshi 27

Table 11. Fatalities and Serious Injuries in KV Traffic

(1994-99)Road user type

No. of deaths No. or seriously injured

Absolute no.

% Absolute no.

%

Pedestrian

156 45 506 40

Bicycle 31 9 102 8Ricksha

w0 0 5 0

Motorcycle

77 22 317 25

Tempo 11 3 76 6Car 10 3 79 6

Pickup 2 1 5 0Minibus 12 3 32 3

Bus 20 6 80 6Truck 21 6 43 3Others 4 1 19 2Total 344 100 1264 100

Source: KVMP (TN8), 2001


4. Addressing public transportation issueIn 2001 there were around 2700 public transportation vehicles running in 105 different routes of

Kathmandu Valley (KVMP (MR7), 2001). This has increased to 3600 vehicles running in 140

routes in 20047. This shows 35 routes and 900 PT vehicles (of different sizes) added in last three

years. Should it be taken as positive sign for pro-PT arguments? KVMP in its analysis suggest

that out of the 550 microbuses operating in the valley at that time, the frequency of the microbus

pick-up in 12 bus routes was 1~1.5 minute for 4 routes, 1.5~3 minutes for 2 routes and 3~5

minutes for 6 routes. This high frequency suggests the over supply of the vehicles, which may be

good news for the PT vehicle users but unnecessary congestion created by these vehicles would

be the worry of the concern authorities. Adding of 900 PT vehicles in last three years in the

already saturated PT service may not be taken as the service motive of the authority concerned.

Moreover, the ‘over supply’ may have coped with the transport demand, other quality aspects,

including the driving speed, ease of boarding and leaving vehicles, safety feeling, etc. still repel

many from the PT service.

Referring again to the KVMP small sample survey of six main and ten minor entry/exit points in

2001, it was found that 2400 PT vehicles with estimated number of 50,000 passengers were

crossing the points while those were crossed by 8700 other motorized vehicles passing 10,000 +

passengers. With the policy orienting to the poorer strata of the urban community, and promoting

PT mode of transportation, a detailed survey may be conducted to look at the possibilities of

providing separate lane to PT vehicles. Furthermore, addressing the congestion issue, available

road space and the number of fleets, a comprehensive planning is required where the narrow lanes

are served by smaller PTs like microbus and tempos while the main roads are by mini and large

buses.

It is interesting to note the crowding of PT vehicles in the Tundikhel corridor. 119 out of 141

routes touches Tundikhel Corridor (majority have the destination to it). Occupying space for

parking and waiting for shift should be discouraged which however can be done through

rearranging the PT routes to hinterland to hinterland destinations (for example Lagankhel to

Maharajgunj if not Chapagaon to Budhanilakantha crossing Tundikhel Corridor). In this case

should we really need to keep the bus park near Tundikhel? the option need to have further

7 Personal survey

P S Joshi 28


studies.

5. Encouraging non-motorized transportationThree major issues geared towards non-motorized transportation are environmental improvement,

conservation of heritage areas and resource management. All the old cities of Kathmandu Valley

are not designed for motor vehicles. With the increasing number of vehicular traffic, henceforth

activities triggered due to incompatible traffic flow in the areas, has in one hand, deteriorated the

environment of the city cores by air and noise pollution, deteriorating the old houses due to

vehicular vibration in narrow lanes, and increasing unnecessary competition for the road space

among the road users. The end result is the urban decay as mentioned above.

Being very politically contentious issue, this needs carefully planned attempt with vigorous

consultations with the locals. In case of Kathmandu City Core, Thamel Tourist Area may be a

starting point. The planning should consider emergency services, service vehicle entry provisions,

services to elderly, parking facilities, etc.

Roughly 20% of the traffic including ~5% bicycles occupies the transportation share of

Kathmandu Valley. Development Plan 2020 estimates 35000 bicycles in Kathmandu Valley

(KVTDC, 2002) and roughly 50,000 bicycles are sold in the valley each year (DoTM, 2002 cf

KVMP (SR1) 2002). To encourage these none polluting mode of transportation, separate bicycle

lanes and improvement of pedestrian walkways are encouraged. The dilapidated footpath,

encroachment of footpath by parking vehicles, street vendors and the shopkeepers is a common

scene in Kathmandu. Road owners like DoR and municipalities are not aware of the right and

importance of pedestrians. In sum, education towards non-motorized traffic is needed from the

policy makers to the individuals as a pedestrian; former, to understand their responsibilities and

the later to recognize their rights.

P S Joshi 29

Existing radial route system with Central

Bus Station

Tangential system with peripheral route

terminals

Tangential system with cross-city routes and peripheral terminals

Source: KVMP (TN 23), 2002


6. Institutional issues:The major institutional issue, as discussed in the urban planning section, is the absence of any

single institution looking after the issues of transportation and traffic management. The

overlapping of the responsibilities of various institutions like DoTM, DoR, municipalities,

KVTDC, traffic police, and many other indirect stakeholders lack coordination and cooperation

whose synergy would have benefited otherwise. If land use prepared by the urban planners is not

acknowledged by other authorities, none of the plans can deliver better fruits. Therefore, incase of

Kathmandu, transportation and traffic management should be under an autonomous body which

looks after the planning and management at valley level.

Conclusions

It has already been late to address the planning issues of Kathmandu. While the planning agencies

like DUDBC are limited to their say in the implementation, the sectoral implementation agencies

are either unaware of the plans or feel comfortable with the freedom to run short term projects.

Therefore, any initiation to improve the valley should start with the institutional apparatus which

could address the comprehensive planning need and its guidance against the sectoral, local or

individual interests. Therefore, an ideal solution to initiate planning guided development of the

valley is to have a valley-wide political and administrative institution preferably nominated by the

valley population. In the absence of such bold step, valley-wide umbrella institution respecting

decentralization norms would be a better compromise.

The failure of the development attempts in Nepal is the main driving force for people to migrate

to Kathmandu. Concentration of services like education, health, government offices are the

attractions. Employments in the formal and informal sectors, business and commerce, hotels and

industries are triggering the in-migration. The only international airport and the tourism

infrastructures have made Kathmandu the gateway city. After insurgency in the country from last

few years, Kathmandu became the only the rescue island.

The available strategic plans are sufficient to give directions to the development. In case of city of

Kathmandu several doable plans are chalked out, which may need some detailing. The rest of the

valley can be guided by these plans. Land use need to be accepted by all the implementation

agencies and be made it mandatory. It should not be some ‘imaginary line’ but demarcation

should be made in the cadastral maps if not in the field.

Kathmandu Valley can not be stretched much. Transportation planning should be aiming at the

containment and densification policies. It should guide the physical development of road

P S Joshi 30


infrastructures, soft interventions like traffic management, mass education and institutional

capacity building, etc. Acknowledgement of functional hierarchy of the different developmental

nodes is equally important. Policy intervention and its translation to actions are needed from

ecological view point. Demand side management strategy should be adopted to provide additional

physical facilities. Instead of expanding transportation infrastructure (except some minor access)

in the fringes, upgrading the infrastructures more in the Greater Kathmandu would be in line with

the land use policy.

Environmental problems like air quality and noise need to address by modal shift to environment

friendly transpiration, fuel quality regulation and de-concentration of the urban services through

land use regulations. Bringing safety, comfort and reliability in PT vehicle service on one hand

and tax mechanisms to discourage personalized transport on the other would help to meet the

goals. Providing separate lanes (where applicable) for PT vehicles and non-motorized vehicles

can contribute much in this part.

P S Joshi 31


Abbreviations

LSGA : Local Self Governance Act

CDS : City Development Strategy

KMC : Kathmandu Metropolitan City

KVTDC : Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee

DoR : Department of Roads, HMGN

DoTM : Department of Transportation Management, HMGN

DUDBC : Department of Urban Development and Building

Construction

HMGN : His Majesty’s Government of Nepal

PT : Public Transportation Vehicle

NMT : Non-motorized Transportation

P S Joshi 32


References

CBS, 1981. Population Census 2001, National Report, Central Bureau of Statistics, HMGN, Kathmandu

CBS, 2001. Population Census 2001, National Report, Central Bureau of Statistics, HMGN, Kathmandu

CDR, 2001. City Diagnostic Report for City Development Strategy, Kathmandu Metropolitan City / The World Bank, Kathmandu

CEN/ENPHO, 2003. Health Impacts of Kathmandu Air Pollution, Kathmandu Electric Vehicle Alliance, Kathmandu

DoR, 2001. Unpublished data from Department of Roads, HMGN, Kathmandu

IUCN, 1999. Environmental Planning and Management of the Kathmandu Valley, IUCN/HMGN, Kathmandu

JICA, 1993. The Study on Kathmandu Valley Urban Road Development, HMGN/JICA, Kathmandu

KVMP (IN5), 2001. Gancha Nani Heritage Conservation Survey Report, Information Note 5, Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program, Kathmandu Metropolitan City/European Commission Kathmandu 2001

KVMP (MR4), 2001. Passenger Travel & Modal Split Estimation Kathmandu Valley; Broersma, K and N Pradhan, Mission Report 4, Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program, Kathmandu Metropolitan City/European Commission, Kathmandu

KVMP (MR7), 2001. Public Transportation System Performance & Possible Improvement, Broersma, K and N Pradhan, Mission Report 7, Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program, Kathmandu Metropolitan City/European Commission, Kathmandu 2001.

KVMP (SR 1), 2002. Road and Access Upgrading Plan, Poudyal, S. Study Report 1, Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program, Kathmandu Metropolitan City/European Commission, Kathmandu

P S Joshi 33


KVMP (TN 23), 2002. Central Sector Development Plan, Pradhan, M. Technical Notes 23, Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program, Kathmandu Metropolitan City/European Commission, Kathmandu, 2002

KVTDC, 2002. Development Plan 2020 of the Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee, Kathmandu

KVUDPP, 1991. Kathmandu Valley Urban Development Plans and Programs, Halcrow Fox, PPK and Cemat Constultancy, Kathmandu

PDPKV, 1969. The Physical Development Plan for Kathmandu Valley, HMGN, Kathmandu

Subba, M. 2003. Urban Containment Policy: Does it Present a Hope to Manage an Impending Urban Crisis of the Kathmandu Valley? Ph. D Dissertation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim

Ziegler, 2001. Urban Development of Kathmandu: Main Physical Planning Issues and Determinants, Roport to KVMP, Kathmandu Metropolitan City/European Commission, Kathmandu

P S Joshi 34

Documents

The State of Urbanization, Land Use and Transport Planning Issues in Kathmandu Valley