KMC resumes footpath widening work in New Road area following court order

Kathmandu / July 17: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has resumed the work of expanding the footpaths in the New Road area. After the Patan High Court cleared the way for the footpath widening, the KMC resumed the project on Wednesday.

Previously, the KMC had demolished the blacktopping of the road for the footpath expansion in the New Road area. However, the Road Division Office intervened and confiscated the construction materials.

In response to this intervention, the KMC filed a writ petition at the Patan High Court. The court issued an interim order allowing the footpath expansion to proceed, stating that urban roads fall under local authority jurisdiction.

A joint bench of Patan High Court judges Dhrubaraj Nanda and Prakash Kharel directed the Road Division Office not to enforce its letter on the KMC to stop the footpath expansion. Consequently, the roadwork is now progressing in full swing.

Earlier, locals protested against the plan to widen the sidewalks at the expense of narrowing the road. This issue also led to clashes among the people’s representatives in KMC.