Kathmandu, September 12

Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepali Army and Ministry of Forest and Environment  have jointly started tree plantation drive along the Tripureshwor-Durbar Marg road segment, in a bid to increase urban greenery in the capital.

As many as 500 tree saplings, above five feet tall, are planned to be planted.

Tree plantation programme was jointly inaugurated by MoFE Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet, KMC Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya and high level NA officials.

In a brief conversation with media Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya said, “The programme aims to develop Kathmandu into a habitable green city.” He also claimed that tree plantation was under way in all 32 wards and on premises of public schools of KMC.

Mayor Shakya directed Environment Management Department of KMC to complete plantation programme targeting Visit Nepal-2020. Shakya’s one of the major election agendas during 2017 local level election was to maintain greenery in the city. Against this backdrop, KMC, on February, had decided to provide Rs 10 million to promote greenery, park construction and protection of public spaces, to some neighbouring local governments.

Ministry of Forest has also declared the period between 2015 to 2025 as Forest Decade with the theme ‘One house, one tree; one village, one forest; one city, one park’.  At present, there are around 15 parks in Kathmandu. The local governance framework, required each local government to protect, public spaces and maintain greenery in the area.