Amayoral candidate in the last elections asked voters not to be worried about the condition of what are euphemistically referred to as “roads” in the capital because Kathmandu was soon going to have a monorail, an elevated highway from Tundikhel to Lagankhel, an underground rapid transit, and he was going to turn Kathmandu Metropalika into a “smart city”. Not to be outdone, a rival candidate promised that Kathmandu would not just be smart, it would be a total genius with an IQ of not less than 150.
We must thank the four-time PM for making the clever move to instruct the PMO to instruct the Secretary at the Ministry of Metaphysical Planning and Highway Robbery to instruct the Department of Roads to instruct its contractor to instruct the sub-contractors to order the construction workers to patch the holes on the streets in 15 days. That chain of command was what the city needed to be street smart.
The military precision has meant that five meteorite impact craters in the newly-paved roads in Pulchok were filled after the Primary Minister’s order was handed down in Chinese whispers to the repair crew. It is a dramatic illustration of the adage that two birds killed with one stone in the bush are worth more than a live one in the hand, that the five potholes were all filled with garbage and turned into speed breakers overnight. Three of them have since reverted back to being potholes again with the onset of the monsoon rains. But, hey, look at the bright side: five minus three is two. That still leaves us with fewer potholes in Patan than previously. The naysayers will of course point out that there are 2.3 million other ash-holes inside the Ring Road, but you can never please these negative nabobs.