KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The Durbar Marg Development Board has warned to stage a protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) if the metropolis does not make alternative arrangements for parking in the Durbarmarg area immediately.
The board’s warning comes in the wake of KMC’s decision to ban parking on the street of Durbar Marg, a downtown area in the capital which houses luxury hotels and international shopping brand outlets.
Organizing a press conference on Friday, the board warned that if the parking ban is not revoked by the Kathmandu metropolis immediately maintained, they will begin protests against the KMC.
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The board had made arrangements for parking on one lane of the road in coordination with the ward office and traffic police in the Durbarmarg area for a long time. The board insisted that there is no problem in traffic management in lane, adding that it will not accept the decision to remove the parking area without consulting with the board and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the press conference, former chairman of the board Gopal Kakshpati, said that the KMC suddenly banned parking in Durbar Marg even though the board had already started smart parking in an orderly manner.
He said that the KMC should sit for talks with the board and make parking arrangements immediately. He accused the metropolis of not thinking about the effect on the beauty of Durbar Marg and the inconvenience to the visitors and the impact on business when the parking was removed all of a sudden.
He said that if the metropolis does not address the demands of the board, they will stage a peaceful protest.
Kakshapati said that after the metropolis banned parking in the Durbar Marg area, the business in that area shrunk by 50 percent. He added that the daily business of Rs 100 million to Rs 120 million in Durbar Marg has now been limited to Rs 40 million to Rs 50 million.
“The number of customers has also dropped by more than half due to lack of parking area,” he added.
