KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 6
Kathmandu Metropolitan City today removed some 'illegally constructed' structures from Kathmandu's core areas such as Ason, Indrachowk, and Bhedasingh.
KMC had, on September 4, served a 24-hour ultimatum to traders there to vacate shops that are illegally operated in the Ason area, which is famous for narrow avenues crowded with retailers.
Today, KMC's team brought down a temporary structure at Ason and around half a dozen shops that were put on historically important buildings, temples and rest houses.
"We brought down one temporary structure that was built encroaching the road while the other structures that we removed today were established on the temple premises and heritage buildings," said Superintendent of Police Raju Pandey of the city police.
These places are situated in Ward No 25 of the metropolis, a historical city with narrow avenues which are crowded with people and movement of vehicles inside such areas is almost impossible.
But the drive to remove illegal structures and busineses has become possible after KMC Mayor Balendra Shah's bold move to clear basement parking, remove illegal hoardings and signboards, and collect tax dues from business firms in the last one month.
Ward Chair Rajesh Shakya, who has been lobbying to remove illegal structures from the temple area, had earlier asked people and issued a public notice in the area to remove such shops that have adverse impacts on the aesthetics of the shrines.
Many people who had feared that their shops would be removed from the area breathed a sigh of relief when the city police said only structures encroaching the roads and those built in the area of temples and rest houses would be removed.
KMC has said that they will keep on removing such illegal structures in the days to come.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 7, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
