Outer Ring Road project fades out of government development radar

Kathmandu, Apr. 15

The cost for land acquisition for the Outer Ring Road Project in the Kathmandu Valley has increased by six times in 22 years since its announcement in 2001.

Initial cost of land management for the project was Rs. 56 billion in 2005 which has crossed Rs. 300 billion, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) said in its annual report for the Fiscal Year 2021/22 published on Thursday.

The project covering all three districts of the valley still is in doldrums although the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA) tried to shake it for a couple of times. The cost of per aana land was Rs. 500,000 in 2005 which is now more than Rs. 5 million in some locations.

The 72-km road project was planned to develop organised cities in the three districts of the valley and facilitate the city lifestyle. But the shortsightedness on part of the government agencies and policies couldn't assess the expansion of the human settlement in the corners of the valley adding complexities in the project development.

Meanwhile, land brokers hiked the price of land citing the development of the Outer Ring Road project and easier connectivity to those areas. Since the government and the local bodies, including municipalities and village development committees then left the entire process and business in the hands of the brokers and agents, the entire Kathmandu Valley turned into an unmanaged settlement with narrow roads many of which are not fit for even ambulance and fire-engines.

But there have not been any activities in terms of project development except feasibility study although administrative costs are being incurred every year. Rs. 142.2 million is spent in the project by the end of the FY 2021/22, informed the OAG.

The cost of project was estimated at Rs. 72 billion in 2008.

Meanwhile, the government has announced another project to develop smart cities including the areas along the proposed Outer Ring Road – 100,000 ropanis of land in north-east and 10,000 ropanis in the north of Kathmandu, 10,000 ropanis each in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts.

Earlier, in 2019, the Development and Technology Committee of the Federal Parliament had directed the government to continue the project while also noting that the land acquisition had become a highly complex feat as the land-mafias sliced the land to as small as three ana pieces.

By that year, about 14,000 landowners emerged along the project area holding about 8,000 ropanis of land in Satungal-Chobhar section alone.

According to the project office, 80,000 to 100,000 ropanis of land should be pooled for the project. The House panel had directed the MoUD to move the project ahead and asked the Ministry of Finance to ensure the resources needed for it.

In April 2018, the Cabinet had endorsed the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the 6.6 km Satungal-Chobhar section of the Outer Ring Road which further raised the hopes for the project but ultimately it helped the land mafias.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 16 April 2023.