Kathmandu, October 5

‘Ktm Walks’ — a campaign to reclaim the streets occupied by vehicles and promote walking and cycling — was organised at Kilagal area, Kathmandu, today.

Vehicles were restricted from Bhedasingh to Naradebi at Kilagal from 7:00am to 7:00pm today.

The campaign was initiated by Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Star Club, Clean Energy Nepal and Resource Centre for Primary Health Care in collaboration with local communities/business groups and other organisations with similar goals.

The goal of ‘Ktm Walks’ is to build more liveable and humane city by restricting motor vehicles in core city areas and promoting sustainable mode of urban transport such as walking, cycling and riding public transport.

Shriju Pradhan, chief of Heritage Conservation and Tourism Section at KMC today said different activities were conducted during the Ktm Walks at Kilagal today such as heritage walk, cycle rally, food stalls, exhibition, performances, aerobics and others.

She said different promotional activities were also carried out to promote walking and cycling.

“Core city areas are not meant for driving vehicles, thus it was a must to raise awareness among the public and others to prevent vehicles from entering such areas,” she said, adding, “Similarly, haphazard parking of vehicles destroys the beauty of heritage sites.”

She said making the city core areas vehicle-free would help enrich their social, cultural and aesthetic value.

‘Ktm Walks’ was organised in Thamel on October 3.

She said, “The campaign is expected to be a fundamental tool to sensitize public and gradually reduce dependence on private vehicles by developing a culture of sustainable mobility.”

She further said the campaign would be organised on needs basis, but they were also planning to organise it every Saturday with KMC as lead coordinator in the long run.

Recently, Nepal government, Ministry of Physical Planning and Construction conducted a study in association with JICA, which found that more than 40 per cent of commuting in Kathmandu is done on foot. But of late, it has been decreasing.

In the last two decades, it has decreased by 23 per cent, while the use of vehicles such as motorcycles and cars has increased threefold.