Kathmandu, April 4:

The government has decided to impose a five-day ban in three districts of the Kathmandu valley — Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur — on the sale and consumption of all types

of liquor during the election time. The ban will be in force from April 7 till April 11.

“We have directed all 75 district administration offices to ban the consumption and sale of liquor during the election,” Home Ministry spokesperson Modraj Dotel told this daily.

He said the ministry has asked Chief District Officers of other districts lying outside the Valley to make decisions on the duration of the ban in their districts considering ‘feasibility and necessity’. “In the three districts of the valley, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, the ban will be in force from April 7 till April 11,” he added.

Ministry officials noted that alcoholism had triggered hooliganism in past elections.

“This is not an unusual decision or ban,” a Home Ministry official said, adding that the ban was “imposed in previous elections also.”