Thank you for the revealing piece by Padma Sunder Joshi on the absurdity of having an Outer Ring Road for Kathmandu Valley ('Road to nowhere', #223). Aside from the argument against concentrating all development in Kathmandu Valley as you also say in your editorial in the same issue ('Round and round in circles') there are other practical reasons why the Outer Ring Road is a very bad idea. Joshi's article is the first time the Nepali media has asked the right questions about this project. As he says, the Outer Ring Road will only increase urban sprawl. It will only be welcomed by the people whose land is going to have a higher property value. What are much more necessary for the moment are:

. Access to all VDCs in the valley which will help the market centres and concentrate urban growth along corridors
. Inner Ring Road as proposed by JICA which will relieve congestion in the city core
. Widening of the Arniko Highway to prepare for the eastern Sindhuli access to the tarai from the Valley.

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