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The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has launched a river cleaning drive, deploying 55 employees from the Environment Department at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office.

The initiative aims to clean up several rivers including Rudramati (Dhobi Khola), Khahare (a seasonal river in Kapan), Bhachaakhushi in the Balaju area, and Ichchhumati (Tukucha), it is said.

Currently, the team has been working on Tukucha for a week.

Supervisor Sagar Luintel said that Tukucha has accumulated more garbage compared to other rivers they have tackled so far. In the case of Rudramati, the local government took the help of a machine to collect the trash.

According to Laxman Dhakal of Kapan, the Rudramati which seemed clean after the cleaning has already started dealing with the garbage issue again, highlighting the necessity for a regulation by local authorities and increased civic awareness to maintain the cleanliness of the rivers and prevent future pollution.

Rivers in the Kathmandu Valley have long been heavily encroached upon, serving as dumping grounds for sewage and garbage, resulting in a significant pollution issue.

The Bagmati River Cleaning initiative launched from the civic level on May 19, 2013, has not yielded significant results.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has arranged 374 beds at 52 hospitals for the free treatment of helpless and poor people.

The private hospitals are obliged to allocate minimum 10 percent beds and free treatment to the helpless and indigent people as per KMC's edict.

Public health inspector at Health Department of KMC, Dhanendra Shrestha, informed that, so far, 70 patients benefited from the scheme launched last February. Most of those receiving the service are from out of the capital city.

After the private hospitals flouted legal provisions, the KMC introduced a free treatment work procedure, 2080 and brought to strict implementation.

The KMC has also managed a system where the availability of beds, treatment services and other schemes at private hospitals can be checked online. Some of such indigent patients were discharged after treatment while some still undergoing treatment.

Shrestha further informed that most of such patients are suffering from ear, nose and throat (ENT) problems, and kidney disease, while some had respiratory and eye problems.

A hotline 1180 of KMC could be dialed to receive information about the treatment or for the service.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has advised citizens to take precautionary measures against dengue fever infection.

With temperatures on the rise and the monsoon season approaching, the local government has cautioned residents about the heightened risk of dengue.

According to the advisory, the proliferation of mosquito larvae is expected to increase with the onset of rainfall, further amplifying the risk of infection.

Sajina Maharjan, the acting chief of the Kathmandu Metropolis health department, said though there have been no reported cases of dengue in the city thus far, the local government is concerned regarding its potential outbreak during rains. Regular cleaning is being carried out at the ward level to mitigate the risk; Maharjan added.

In preparation for any potential outbreaks, the local government has ensured the availability of essential supplies such as cetamol and Jeevan Jal for those affected by dengue. The supplies will be coordinated through the health promotion centers at the ward level.

Moreover, teams comprising center employees, volunteers, and sanitation workers are busy in finding areas with accumulated water, a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and cleaning them.

The local government also planned to undertake bio-larvicide spraying activities if deemed necessary to combat the spread of dengue infection.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Sunday demolished illegal structures in Gaushala.

The metropolis dismantled houses and shops built on the roadside against the set guidelines at Gaushala chowk.

The metropolis informed that the houses built against the set standards would be demolished on a regular basis.

The Metropolitan City had issued a 35-day notice to remove the structures built by encroaching the road.

The houses were bulldozed in the presence of Nepal Police and KMC officers after the owners did not demolish the houses on their own.

Earlier on Friday, the metropolis demolished the houses constructed illegally in-and-around Bhatkekopul, Chabahil.

More than 10,000 people have applied for the 'Skill Fair 2081 BS' conducted by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on May 1. KMC organized the fair with the goal of training 2,081 people but more than 10,000 applied for the same.

According to Bimala Koirala, acting head of KMC Social Development Department, all those who fill the application (form) will be provided training.

She informed that the applicants who fill the form before May 1 will be allowed to participate in the skill fair. Koirala said that there is a plan to provide them with the training schedule by Friday, May 10. She further informed that training will be provided at various stages in collaboration with various campuses and community schools for those who fill the form after May 2.

She shared that 2, 081 of those who filled the form will be trained immediately and others will be trained for the next three years based on their needs. The skill fair has been started under KMC's Gaurav Yojana (Pride Project) under 'Increase in Employment and Income, Prosperity of Kathmandu'.

For the fair, the KMC has collaborated with the Nepal Training and Employment Association.

According to the KMC, the aim is to provide training in 36 occupations in 10 areas. The KMC believes that the fair will integrate skills that are scattered and help people with skills reach employers. Koirala further informed that people who have completed 18 years of age up to 58 years of age can participate in the training.

For those who find it difficult to fill the details online, arrangements were made to fill the form on paper from the ward office as well. The participants who came to Tundikhel on the opening day should be able to fill the form from that place as well, the KMC said.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Education Department has urged the institutional schools under the metropolis to name the schools embodying the Nepali identity.

Issuing a public notice today, the Education Department asked the institutional schools for the same.The Department reminded that the Rule 154 (1) of Education Regulations, 2059 (with amendment) and Rule (70) of KMC School Education Management Regulation, 2074 have the provision that schools should be named, reflecting the Nepali identity. 

The Department also directed such institutional schools under the KMC to contact the KMC Education Department within seven days, saying the names of most institutional schools are found against this provision.

The notice reads that legal process could be forwarded as per the law like prohibiting the student admission process if a process to name the school reflecting Nepali identity is not adopted and contacting the Department within a week.

The Department asked such institutional schools to file application at the KMC within 35 days of deciding the name from school management committee.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) collected around Rs 5 billion in revenue in the first half of the current fiscal year 2023/24.

The collection is higher by around 350 million than that of the corresponding period in the last fiscal year.

KMC Revenue Department Chief Dhruba Kafle said that the highest revenue collection for the KMC was from the house rent tax at over Rs 1.35 billion followed by tax on property at over Rs 670 million.

The swelling in the size of taxpayers is attributed to increase in revenue collection. The KMC has aimed to generate over Rs 10 billion in revenue for the current fiscal year.

KMC has been collecting revenue under 36 different headings including property, home maintenance, business registration, advertisement, entertainment, real estate, VAT and vehicles among others, informed Kafle.

If revenue collection goes at the same pace, the KMC would meet its annual revenue collection target at the end of the fiscal year, he said.

The KMC intensifying the tax collection drive also led to collect the outstanding amount for a long thereby contributing to increase in revenue collection.