The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has formally announced digital building plan approval service on the occasion of its 23rd anniversary.

Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya, who launched the service on Friday, said people no longer will have to go through bureaucratic rigmarole to secure building plan approval once the online system comes into full effect. 

The KMC plans to completely do away with the extant manual building plan approval process and adopt digital system starting May of next year.

Though the KMC had introduced digital building plan approval service in 2015, it had failed to catch on, mainly due to poor implementation. This time around, however, the KMC is fully invested in the plan, said Shakya.

Besides cutting hassle for the public, he said, the system will also reduce physical storage needs and enhance productivity of the KMC. 

The KMC has partnered with the Creative Design Architect Limited, Craze Consultant, Sustainable Structure, Attic Consultant Service and Sapkota and Sons for this undertaking.

City felicitates staff members, taxpayers On the occasion, the KMC also felicitated Himalayan Bank Ltd with the “Best Taxpayer of the Year” award in the institution category. Sushila Devi Basnet won the award in the individual category.

The KMC also honoured five of its staff members, Ambika Khadka, Sunmaya Poudyal, Jayanti Shrestha, Ramlal Deula and Nara Bahadur Saud, for their over two decades of services.

Earlier in the day, the KMC had organised a rally to mark its anniversary. The rally called for broader participation of Kathmandu denizens to make the city clean, beautiful and liveable.