Valley
City planners mull greater metropolis
Talks are underway to turn Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur into one metropolis.Gaurav Thapa
Talks are underway to turn Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur into one metropolis.
The vision of a Greater Kathmandu, though proposed in the past, has gained momentum since the appointment of Rudra Singh Tamang as the Chief and Executive Officer of Kathmandu Metropolitan City last year.
KMC, in coordination with the district development committees of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur, is holding a workshop on Kathmandu Valley Unified Development Blueprint on Friday and Saturday. Local governance experts and Chief Secretary Somlal Subedi are scheduled to address the workshop.
“Why do we need 21 different municipalities in Kathmandu when works can be carried out by a single body?” Tamag told the Post on Thursday. “Urban areas in all three districts inside Kathmandu Valley can be incorporated into Kathmandu metropolis for unified development.” Kathmandu will become the national capital of the country in the new federal
set-up.
With this, government has been gearing for an integrated development approach for the Valley which includes establishing new infrastructure, efficient management of existing ones and continuation of current development programmes.
The efforts are in line with administrative structures of big metropolises around the world. For example, New York City consists of five boroughs which were consolidated into one in 1898, abolishing previous town and county governments in favour of unified centralised city government. Likewise, London comprises of City of London Corporation and 32 other boroughs while the top-tier administration body is Greater London Authority.
Sources say Kathmandu is bracing for a similar administrative structure with Kathmandu Metropolitan City as the mother municipality under the wing of which will be other municipalities of the Valley.
The plan is certainly ambitious, but it must be noted that the KMC is being run by civil servants as the local-level elections have not taken place for many years now. The last elected government’s term at KMC expired in 2002.
KATHMANDU: After the direction of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority to vacate Rastriya Sabha Griha, the KMC will now shift its office to JDA Complex in Sundhara.
KMC Chief Tamang, said the new office was being set up on the fifth and the sixth floors of the building and they plan to move in after a week.
The KMC had shifted its office to Bhrikutimandap-based Rastriya Sabha Griha from Sundhara-based Bagh Durbar after the building, which was built more than 150 years ago, was severely damaged by the April 25 earthquake. The metropolis had been working from the building since 2004.
Only the Revenue Division, Urban Development Department, Law Division, Vital Registration Section and Documentation Section of KMC remain there.
Tamang said that the proximity to the old office and ease of travel for service-seekers were considered while choosing the JDA Complex as the new office. In the long run, the KMC plans to return to its old base, Bagh Durbar after renovation. The cost of renovation has been estimated at Rs 1 billion, of which Rs 50 million was allocated in this year’s budget.