Govt drives away footpath vendors, tastes rare feat
Government efforts to rid footpaths of vendors, once thought impossible task, have finally paid off. The alleyway to New Road from Sundhara, held to ransom by mushrooming footpath vendors, has been reclaimed by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC).
Anyone commuting from Sundhara to Newroad from morning till late evening will no longer find this area an eyesore as footpath vendors were scattered to the four winds by officials. The vendors have also been cleared from the New Road-Bishal Bazaar-Maha Bouddha route.
The government has earned praises for the footpath clearance. “We cannot trust government officials unless they work. This time, they have done a good job,” said a local resident of Maruhiti, Manju Ranjitkar. “It’s a gift for those who enjoy walking around the streets.”
According to KMC officials, over 1,000 vendors alone used to run businesses around Sundhara, New Road and Ratnapark areas. More than 200 of them were cleared from the Sundhara-New Road route. However, they sometimes make a comeback, which is a serious problem, according to Dhanapati Sapkota, chief of KMC’s Implementation Department. “We are working hard to not allow the vendors encroach upon the streets again,” Sapkota said.
Initially, the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Area Conservation Programme had started evicting footpath vendors from the New Road gate to Bishal Bazaar and the Juddha Statue to Khicha Pokhari last September. However, officials couldn’t taste the raresuccess, as vendors reoccupied footpaths playing hide-and-seek with the city police.
This year the KMC has allocated Rs 100 million for the conservation of the New Road-Basantapur area. In a bid to help pedestrians safely and easily cross roads, some designated places have been allocated. The green median divider placed throughout the area has been useful in bringing greenery between the two-lane road.
Meanwhile, the plan to replace decrepit electricity poles and manage haphazardly routed cables are yet to sail through.
Posted on: 2012-01-25 07:26
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