Comments on: Cycle city Kathmandu http://www.redpepper.org.uk/cycle-city-kathmandu/ Red Pepper Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:39:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Hazel Roy http://www.redpepper.org.uk/cycle-city-kathmandu/#comment-41122 Hazel Roy Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:36:15 +0000 http://www.redpepper.org.uk/?p=6353#comment-41122 I used to cycle in 2002 when I lived in Kathmandu – by todays standards the roads were relatively quiet, due as much as anything to the civil war- even then I felt I was ‘going over the top’ doing a 12 mile round circuit between Sanepa and Pushipatinath daily. I needed to stay in a fairly reckless state of mind to cope.
On returning in 2006 the road congestion had tripled – everyone I knew who had a bicycle now had a motor bike and everyone with a motor bike a car. Pedestrians were at constant risk from motorbikes who merely mounted the pavements when the roads became too silted up.

2008 was even worse-I no longer attempted to ride a bike it was just too scary – crossing the main road near Ratna Park took tremendous courage and nerve.

By 2010 my colleague needed to stay off the roads and use a mask to avoid breathing in the near lethal pollution which threatened her voice on the eve of a musical debut. All I would say is the cycle revolution is long overdue but the tolerance level of Nepalis for near suicidal road conditions makes me wonder how successful the campaign will be when car ownership is still equated with status. It needs a massive re-think in attitudes

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