Shah has a tough task ahead as he should not be seen discriminating when pulling down illegal structures
The capital has waited too long for someone to spring into action to pull down the unauthorised and illegal structures dotting every nook and corner of the city that are rented out to the vendors. Finally, the newly-elected Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Balen Shah, has begun a demolition drive, freeing up spaces for parking in key commercial buildings. On Wednesday, KMC demolished the unathorised structures that had been erected in front of Kathmandu Mall at Sundhara, at the RB Shopping Complex at Pako and in New Road. The KMC resorted to the measure as the structures had been built by breaching the approved blueprint. It is a common practice among the building owners to get a blueprint approved for underground parking, but, once approved, renting it out to vendors. Traders and building owners were served a 35-day notice to remove the shops and services they were operating in the basements meant for parking. After they took no notice, the KMC had swung into action.
With the addition of new vehicles - both big and small - in the Kathmandu Valley by the thousands every year, parking is a big problem in the cities, especially in the commercial districts. When the basements and ground floors are used for parking as intended, it should solve some of the parking woes faced by the shoppers. Due to lack of parking space, vehicles are parked either on the streets or haphazardly wherever there is some space, greatly inconveniencing the pedestrians. The traders or building owners are definitely unhappy with the new mayor, especially with them having to close shop and look for a new outlet when the women's festival of Teej is already here and Dashain is just round the corner. But don't complain that they weren't warned. In a country where politics determines many things, these illegal structures couldn't have survived for so long without the political protection of the political parties. The traders probably thought things would continue forever as it is. But Shah won the mayoral race as an independent.
Shah made a lot of promises during the election campaign, from cleaning up Kathmandu's streets of its garbage and removing vendors from the footpaths to freeing up spaces for parking. But he has met with resistance at every step of fulfilling these promises since he took over as mayor in May. It wasn't until last week that the KMC's trucks have been allowed to ferry garbage to the landfill site at Bancharedanda after locals obstructed their movement. Planning and building a new city might be easier than sprucing up a city like Kathmandu, whose chaotic urbanisation can only be made to see some semblance of order with firm determination and political will on the part of both the local and federal governments. Shah has a tough task ahead as he should not be seen discriminating when pulling down illegal structures, as the Kathmandu District Court and Norvic Hospital, to name just a few, have also flouted the rules and regulations. Building a beautiful Kathmandu is not the sole responsibility of the mayor, all its residents also have a stake in it. It is our duty to lend a helping hand where feasible to the KMC in what it is doing.
Investment in energy
Bangladesh has shown keen interest in investing in Nepal's hydropower projects, which could help meet its growing energy needs in the next decade. Bangladesh, which is the 41st fastest growing economy, needs more reliable energy to further boost its economy. Bangladesh is interested to invest in the 683-MW Sunkoshi-III semi-reservoir project as a pilot project. It is also interested in investing in the 1,720-MW Khimti Shivalaya Reservoir project in Ramechhap. Nepal and Bangladesh have formed a high-level joint mechanism to jointly develop the proposed reservoir projects with the aim of exporting electricity to the South Asian neighbour.
However, India's cooperation is vital when it comes to exporting Nepal's electricity to Bangladesh. India needs to provide its land corridor and transmission line to export energy from Nepal to Bangladesh. Therefore, a tripartite agreement must be reached among Nepal, Bangladesh and India so that both the countries can use India's transmission lines for energy exchange. During the fourth BIMSTEC summit held in Kathmandu in 2018, the summit had agreed to materialise the BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection Master Plan to exchange energy among the member states. India's cooperation is crucial to realise the plan.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 26, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.