Valley to be developed as metro city soon

Kathmandu January 13- Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City and the 20 municipalities are preparing the groundwork to develop the local bodies of Kathmandu Valley as a metro city.

KMC will bear 35 per cent of the total cost, while Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan will invest 18 per cent, Bhaktapur Municipality five per cent and Kirtipur and Madhyapur Thimi Municipality will put in four per cent each to bear the cost of integrated development of the Valley.

Similarly, the newly declared 17 municipalities have agreed to bear two per cent of the cost each.

According to KMC, the tentative proposal of the investment was made on the basis of resources that the local bodies possess.

The concept of metro city is expected to help the government achieve proportional development of all local bodies in the Valley.

Effective waste management, greenery promotion, pollution control, sewage treatment, promotion of electric vehicles and mass transportation, e-governance system, conservation of cultural and religious heritages and tourism promotion are on the cards of the proposed metro city.

All the local bodies are also expected to bring about uniformity in building construction permit for better resilience.

An umbrella committee comprising representatives from the district development committees of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktrapur, KMC, Lalitpur and all other municipalities will be formed to determine plans and carry forward works through resource management, said a KMC official.

Meanwhile, KMC chief Rudra Singh Tamang yesterday made public an estimated budget of approximately Rs 3.66 billion for the fiscal year 2016/17 in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Kamal Thapa.

The budget also clearly stated the integrated development plan of local bodies in the Valley.