April 6: A study conducted by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has found that the residents of the Kathmandu Valley have been facing annual losses worth Rs 116 billion due to traffic jams.

Jagatman Shrestha, traffic management advisor to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, said that traffic jams causes problems like air and noise pollution, extra fuel consumption, deterioration of vehicles, health problems and accidents, resulting in financial losses worth Rs 116 billion a year.

"This is a massive loss. KMC is studying how to reduce traffic jams in order to minimize the financial losses,” said Shrestha.

Shrestha added that the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the Transport Management Office and the Department of Roads should support KMC’s efforts to minimize traffic congestion.

According to him, the present situation has been created due to problems in the engineering of public transport operation and management and negligence in fulfilling the responsibilities.

Traffic management expert Shrestha said that the federal capital’s Urban Area Public Transport Authority should start working on how to manage vehicles and traffic within the valley.

The government has issued the 'Urban Area Public Transport (Management) Authority Act-2079' for effective management of public transport. The legal arrangements of the authority are made with the aim of making the public transport sector in the urban areas easy, accessible, passenger-friendly, reliable, cost-effective and safe.