INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 18The Kathmandu Metropolitan City's drive to clear public spaces from unnecessary encroachment due
to parking has yet again drawn a rift among the public, this time in Anamnagar area.
Shops shut demanding parking space
'Unnecessary expenditure impacting national economy'
The rift arose at around mid-day today after the municipal police came to
the area with their trucks and lifted the bikes that were parked on the footpath.
Shortly after the municipal police
action, some shopkeepers and business owners came to the street obstructing the former from lifting the bikes, saying that the area had been
However, the city police refuted their claims, saying the area where the bikes were parked was a public place
The path where the bikes were parked had stone mosaic pavements placed by the Departments of Road.Irate locals, however, said since they had
not encroached the footpath they should be allowed to use the remaining space for parking.The municipal police, who were not in a mood to
comply with the demands of shopkeepers and business owners, called local leaders from the area.Shortly, a couple of elected local members of
the area came to the site and sided with the police echoing their move to not allow the space for parking.Soon after the incident,
infuriated people staged demonstration obstructing vehicular movement for some time
This obstructed the action of the municipal police for at least four hours
Later, head of municipal police SP Raju Pandey reached the site and asked for a blueprint that allowed parking in the designated
area.People, who had become aggressive in the matter tried to ward off the police force
However, police were ultimately successful in lifting the bikes from the area.The municipal police have asked all to refrain from parking in
public areas and asked them to park their vehicles in allocated areas designated by commercial buildings.Lately, shopkeepers and business
owners have been staging protest and criticising the local government for its stern 'no-parking' policies that are being forcibly
implemented in the core city areas.A version of this article appears in the print on December 19, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com