Kathmandu Metropolitan City has intensified its efforts to make the Capital clean and tidy for the 13th South Asian Games. The games will be held in Kathmandu and two other cities from December 1 to 10.

An estimated 6,000 participants, including more than 3,000 athletes from seven countries, will be arriving for the games. Most of the guests and athletes have already arrived.
To make sure that there are no garbage piles and dust on the streets, the city office will be mobilising its 750-strong cleaning staff and seven broomer machines.

“Our cleaning staff will be deployed even during the day time so that the roads in Kathmandu are clean,” said Hari Bahadur Shrestha, chief of the environment division at KMC.
The cleaning staff and broomer machines will mainly focus on core city areas and the roads at Gaushala, Sinamangal, Tinkune, New Baneshwor, Maitighar, Tripureshwor, Ratnapark and Durbarmarg.

Various beautification works are also being carried out for the sporting event. The city office has appointed Ram Krishan Shreshta for the job.
“We are building decorative gates and boards in different parts of the city to welcome the athletes and the guests for the games,” Ram Krishna told the Post.
The roadside walls and buildings are also being painted for the occasion.

Ishwor Man Dangol, spokesperson for the KMC, said the city office wants to make the event a success and offer warm hospitality to the visiting guests.

“Our main focus is to make the city clean, beautiful and free of potholes. We want to send a good message to our guests,” said Dangol.

To add zest and spirit to the games, the city office also plans to install LED screens at various open spaces in Kathmandu to telecast the proceedings of the games.
KMC has set aside Rs 10 million to prepare the city for the games.

Odd-even rule for vehicles

Meanwhile, to ensure hassle-free mobility for players and other participants, the Kathmandu Metropolitan Traffic Police Division has decided to implement odd-even rule on the inaugural and concluding days of the games.

On December 1, only those vehicles whose licence number ends in odd digit will be allowed to ply the roads inside the Ring Road. The even rule will apply for the vehicles on the concluding day of the games on December 10.
The rule will not apply for the participants and guests of the games, VVIPs, emergency vehicles, water tankers and vehicles carrying journalists, according to the division.

Roads in some parts of the city will be off-limits for vehicles and the traffic will be rerouted to facilitate the games.

The division has also announced that two lanes of the road from Balkhu to Suryabinayak for a cycling event on December 6 and 7.

The division will be deploying more than 900 traffic personnel on the streets of Kathmandu to ensure smooth traffic flow, particularly in areas close to the sporting venues, including Tripureshwor, Satdobato, Lagankhel, Sahidgate, Kirtipur, Halchwok, Lainchwor and Gokarna areas, Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Prasad Dhakal, chief of the division, told the Post
Around 200 volunteers from the Kathmandu School of Law will be mobilised to manage Kathmandu’s traffic for the event.

For further traffic details and updates, the division has requested the public to either call at 103 or tune in to Metro Traffic FM 95.5.