Kathmandu, February 26:

The newly elected people’s representatives of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) are revising the budget of the metropolis to include the programmes that were stalled during the municipal elections.

Mayor Raja Ram Shrestha said the revision was necessary as the government budget was not commensurate with people’s needs. The current fiscal year ends after only four- and-a-half months.

“It will take us around four days to revise the budget after which the development works can begin in earnest,” he said.

“We have already consulted the chairmen of all 35 wards in order to address the problems being faced by all the wards at the same time,” he said. These include the problems with streetlights, potholes and cleanliness, Shrestha said. The people’s representatives would also work to keep the city clean and maintain the slabs paved at various places inside the city.

The new mayor also announced a 51-point programme for the development of the city. “The revision was also necessary to incorporate the 51-point programme of the new people’s representatives,” Shrestha said.

Sanjay Raj Upadhyay, head of the Public Works Department at KMC, said as the municipal elections were announced after the approval of the KMC budget for this fiscal year, all major development works were stalled as per the ethics of the elections. No developmental works were carried out in last few months except some emergency tasks, he added.

During the first seven months of the ongoing fiscal year, the KMC has spent only Rs 215.73 million out of the total estimated budget of Rs 1.7 billion. The lengthy revision process and the municipal polls delayed developmental works in the metropolis.