KATHMANDU, NOV 19 - An Asian Development Bank (ADB) grant of $800,000 (Rs. 58.8 million) has been given to a project that looks to find a sustainable solution to the traffic congestion inside the Valley.

ADB has assigned WSP Inc., a U.K.-based consultant to initiate the Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP), which will assist the government in finding a solution. The grant to the technical assistance-based project is for a period of six and a half months, a press statement of the project said.

“The project will assist the government to define a sustainable urban transport vision to be progressively implemented over the years to come,” the release said. “Plans are under preparation to limit the traffic entering the old city of Kathmandu, including the World Heritage Site of Durbar Square and the busy areas of Thamel,”

David Irwin, team leader of KSUTP, said acquiring land to widen the roads is too expensive an alternative. “That's why the initial solution is to include various measures to reduce the volume of traffic and to improve the quality of public transportation”.

According to him, ADB will mobilise loans of $20 million for the implementation of the transport management plan if the government and ADB approves the preliminary design phase of the project.

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