Kathmandu, July 21

Kathmandu Metropolitan City today made public its policies and programmes for the fiscal 2019-20 endorsed by the fifth municipal assembly.

The metropolis has appropriated around Rs 11.2 billion for the implementation of the programmes and policies. The highest budget of around Rs 5.64 billion has been allocated for development infrastructure, which accounts for 51.26 per cent of the total budget. Around Rs 1.16 billion has been allocated under the head of social development (10.55 per cent), Rs 1.16 billion (10.53 per cent) for education and around one billion rupees (9 per cent) for heritage and tourism promotion and around Rs 6.1 million (0.06 per cent) for urban development programme.

According to KMC, its policies and programmes aim to translate the vision of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ embraced by the government. “KMC will develop and implement local market management standard to maintain quality of basic consumer goods and services, and drugs. Quality test will be conducted on a regular basis for the supply and sale of pesticide-free vegetables. For this purpose, a state-of-the-art mobile van will be brought into operation,” read the policies and programmes.

It will continue with sterilisation and vaccination of street drugs besides introducing provision of microchip tagging of pets to track their vaccination records. The KMC is also set to develop and introduce local curricula in school education system by incorporating moral education and language, rituals and culture of Kathmandu valley.

KMC will also upgrade health clinics being operated by it and distribute specified medicines to people free of cost. It envisions a metro senior citizen hospital for diagnosis and treatment of old age diseases. In yet another ambitious plan, KMC will operate monorail, make Kathmandu free of street children and beggars, protect and promote traditional water sources and increase people’s access to public toilets. According to the policies and programmes, the metropolis will collaborate with restaurants, shopping malls, petrol pumps, hospitals and public agencies for allowing people to use their toilets.

As per its polices and programmes, the metropolis will provide social security allowance for senior citizens at their doorsteps. It shall develop underground parking facilities in different places of the city, implement the system of waster segregation at source, establish vehicle cleaning centres at entry points of the valley, develop Kathmandu as a ‘no mask city’ by reducing pollution level, declare Kathmandu as the ‘plastic bag free city’, promote the concept of green city, construct an international standard park in Tinkune, establish disaster management equipment including fire brigades in five places of Kathmandu, remove pertrol pumps located in sensitive area, get rid of footpath encroachment and make provision of rental agreement mandatory.

The policies and programmes also include the statement of projected income and expenditure for the activities to be  carried out in various areas, said KMC Spokesperson Ishworman Dangol.