Kathmandu, December 24

Kathmandu Metropolitan City had prioritised four major working areas — road repair, building code implementation, maintenance of greenery and garbage management — some three months ago.

However, apart from road repair, KMC has failed to work on other areas. KMC said it was currently focusing on road repair work as poor condition of roads and ongoing road construction work had increased pollution in the city.

“We can not control dust pollution in the city without repairing roads. Considering the ongoing road expansion and pipeline laying work of Melamchi project, we had no other option but to repair the roads as soon as possible. However, KMC will work on other areas soon after roads are repaired,” Joint Spokesperson at KMC Namaraj Dhakal Dhakal told The Himalayan Times.

KMC officials said road repair work was being carried out in most Wards of KMC. Roads less than eight-metre width come under the purview of KMC.

Another important concern of KMC is garbage management. It has been struggling to manage garbage due to frequent obstructions created by Okharpauwa locals. KMC is planning to construct a permanent landfill site to manage waste produced in Kathmandu Valley, but nothing substantial has been done in this regard so far. KMC has not even found a temporary landfill site to manage garbage.

The KMC had also prioritised implementation of building code. It had said regular inspection would be carried out at construction sites to ensure that the building code was complied with.

Likewise, as part of its greenery campaign, KMC had decided to plant trees on both sides of roads, traffic islands and river banks of the city.