KATHMANDU: In a bid to promote mass transportation in the Kathmandu Valley, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) is preparing to remove small vehicles plying within the Valley from March-end.

In accordance with the government's policy of developing mass transport systems in the major towns and cities, small vehicles including three-wheelers (tempoes), microbuses and minibuses would be replaced by large buses soon.

According to the Department's Director General Chandraman Shrestha, the goal is to replace the small vehicles by 50 percent within a year.

Similarly, the Department is doing homework to remove vehicles—both government and private ones—that are as old as 20 years or above, from the beginning of March.