Kathmandu, September 7

Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Bidya Sundar Shakya has failed to deliver on most of his commitments that he made while taking the oath of office on May 31. Shakya had promised to carry out 101 works in his first 100 days in office.

During a programme organised to mark KMC local representatives’ first 100 days in office today, it was revealed that KMC had so far fulfilled only 31 of the 101 commitments.

The management of 1,095 metric tonnes waste, plantation of 1,803 trees, installation of 1,776 solar lights in public places, allocation of Rs 12,000 as social security fund for people above the age of 84 years and declaration of wifi zones at certain places in the city were among the promises kept so far, stated KMC.

During his election campaign earlier, Shakya had promised to develop KMC into a ‘smart city’ and restore heritage monuments damaged in the 2015 earthquakes, among other things.

Speaking at the programme today, Mayor Shakya conceded that not all of his commitments had been fulfilled so far and said he would work towards fulfilling the remaining pledges at the earliest. “The first 100 days were tough but KMC team has still achieved success in many of the commitments,” he said.

Though it seemed ambitious, the idea of mono rail, metro rail, city cable car was all feasible and it would obviously take time for all that to happen, he said. He described legal bottlenecks and procedural criteria as major hurdles for being unable to keep his promises.

Mayor Shakya has come under heavy criticism from all quarters for his way of working.

Asked what happened to his commitment to develop KMC into a ‘smart city’, Shakya said work in that direction was under way. He said problems in managing waste had become a major headache for KMC in recent times and added that his team was trying to solve the issue with the help of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

His list of lofty projects include hiking social security allowance to senior citizens to Rs 5000, restoring the historic Sorhakhutte Pati, implementing e-governance, and making major places like Swoyambhu and Pashupatinath temple area free wi-fi zones.