Himalayan News Service

Pokhara, March 1:

Lekhnath municipality has approved around Rs 37 million budget for the current fiscal year.

The meeting of the 10th municipal council on Sunday allocated the amount of Rs 3,13,24,000 for the development works and Rs 60,66,000 for the administrative expenses, Surya Koirala, executive officer of the municipality, said. In terms of percentage, development budget covers 83.78 per cent while administrative budget covers 16.22 per cent. Although the municipality plans to develop itself as the town of seven lakes, it has not allocated budget for this purpose. “Budget is not allocated for the project as most of the lakes are handed over to the different organisations for development and conservation, Koirala said.

But the organisations have not paid the committed amount yet, he said adding that the municipality is initiating actions against them, if they failed to pay the amount. Although Lekhnath municipality is dependent on agriculture, it is labelled as the tourism hub.However, the municipality has not allocated any budget for the tourism promotion also. Out of the 80 thousand tourists who visit Pokhara every year, 40 per cent visit the Lekhnath municipality.

Yet, the municipality has not allotted any budget for tourism development. The municipality will try to bring all the industrial entrepreneurs into tax bracket from the coming fiscal year, he added.

The budget for the coming fiscal will be smaller in the size in comparison to the current fiscal year, the municipality said. The total budget for the coming fiscal year is estimated at Rs 2,84,17,000. The municipality is also constructing its own building for the office purpose, which will be completed by the time the coming budget is announced. The Lekhnath municipality has four VDCs: Rakhee, Lekhnath, Sisuwa and Begnas.