Kathmandu, November 7

The district technical assistance committee of Kathmandu today submitted its report to the Local Body Restructuring Commission.

The report proposes two alternatives for forming local bodies in Kathmandu as the major political parties failed to agree on a single proposal, according to District Development Committee, Kathmandu.

As per the first option, the technical committee has proposed forming two municipalities out of the existing 11 municipalities, which lack adequate population, while keeping the remaining nine municipalities intact. The municipalities recommended for village units are Shankharapur and Dakshinkali.

They are in the rural parts and have inadequate population.

Member secretary of the committee and senior information officer at DDC, Kathmandu, Prabin Pyakurel, said two options were floated as the parties could not forge consensus on any one option.

Similarly, the second option mentions that Shankharapur and Khageshowr Manahar could be merged to form a single municipality. Similarly, it proposes forming a single municipality by merging Dakshinkali with Kirtipur, while keeping the other municipalities intact.

The committee said the second option meets the criteria set by the LBRC. However, both the options do not propose any centre for the local bodies.

Gopal Prasad Adhikari, coordinator of the committee, said the proposed number of local bodies was not politically agreed as leaders had earlier planned to make Kathmandu Valley an autonomous region.

“A different mechanism is needed to manage the metropolitan city. There are some wards where more than 3,000 people live and there are some other wards where more than 84,000 people live. It is difficult when you can’t split wards,” Adhikari added.

Referring to the Godawari Declaration 2015 issued after discussion between local development officers of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts, political parties have also agreed to develop the Kathmandu Valley as ‘Metro Area’ and a tourist destination.