KATHMANDU, August 10

Visual pollution has been plaguing the capital city despite all the efforts made by Kathmandu Metropolitan City to remove haphazardly placed illegal hoarding boards.

The hoarding boards have been removed from the rooftops and windows of public and private buildings to take the edge off the widespread ugliness of the cityscape.

KMC informed that more than 30,000 such haphazardly installed hoarding boards and other illegal boards have been removed from buildings and market places in the capital.

However, KMC has been facing a hard time fighting visual pollution when it comes to illegally pasted film posters, graffiti and writings painted on the walls.

The advertisers paste movie posters recklessly on the walls of buildings, temple premises, overhead bridges, walls adjacent to the streets, tree trunks and electric poles.

The posters pasted by film producers or distributors no doubt create visual pollution, but it is even worse when pedestrians tear the posters and litter the streets as they walk by leaving the walls ugly.

Dhruba Kafle, chief of Revenue Department at KMC said “Though we warn movie production companies, advertisers and cinema halls against pasting posters, they violate the policy and paste it during night time, thus escaping the eyes of the law,” he said.

Political cadres have also been misusing walls in the city by writing slogans and messages, pasting pamphlets and leaflets to publicise their agendas.

Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudel had instructed the general public to support Kathmandu Metropolitan City in curbing visual pollution in July last year.

Furthermore, well educated youngsters hailing from well-to-do families have also started to misuse the walls by covering them with graffiti. The walls of Thapathali and Kupondole are filled with vivid graffiti painted in loud colors.

The wall of the overhead bridge in Bhadrakali has been polluted with graffiti too.

“Such contrasting colours can cause stress to the eyes and affect psychological health, especially of those, who are allergic to certain types of colours,” said Kafle.

Dhanapati Sapkota, chief of Enforcement and Implementation Department at KMC said that the culprits had been fined Rs 500 to 10,000 in the past for visually polluting the city.

“The political cadres have not been paying attention to the several attempts made to control visual pollution in the city as the law of Nepal does not allow interference in political campaigns,” he added.