Miscellaneous
Coordinating body proposed for dev projects
The Parliamentary Development Committee has proposed a separate mechanism to oversee the projects carried out by the Department of Road, the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited, citing lack of coordination among these three authorities.The Parliamentary Development Committee has proposed a separate mechanism to oversee the projects carried out by the Department of Road, the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited, citing lack of coordination among these three authorities.
“We are going to form a separate unit which will act as a coordinating body to look after the projects concerning road, electricity and drinking water supply inside Kathmandu Valley,” said Deependra Nath Sharma, secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development.
The decision was reached in a meeting convened by the parliamentary committee in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
The lawmakers from 10 constituencies of Kathmandu, Chief Executive Officer of Kathmandu Valley Development Authority Bhai Kaji Tiwari, Chief and Executive Officer of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Rudra Singh Tamang and Director General of the Department of Road Madhav Karki were invited to the meeting.
The committee also instructed the concerned authorities to complete the road expansion, improvement and land pooling projects inside the Valley within one year.
The meeting also told the authorities to take action against the construction companies who fail to complete a given project on time or deliver quality and consistent work, and reclaim the encroached public land.
Inside Kathmandu metropolis alone, around 1,800 ropanis of public land is occupied by illegal tenants, according to a report published by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.
In the meeting, Executive Officer of KMC Tamang suggested overhauling the existing drainage system of Kathmandu. He cautioned that the city’s unplanned drainage system could be overwhelmed once it starts receiving its drinking water supply from the Melamchi river.
“It has been assured that the Melamchi project would supply 170 million litres of water per day. It will be like brining a river here. We have to plan ahead how our drainage system should be,” suggested Tamang.
Similarly, the lawmakers raised concerns about lack of concrete plans for building sustainable urban settlements and road-related problems in the Valley during monsoon.