KMC's planning body defunct for 15 years

KATHMANDU, March 30: City Planning Commission (CPC), an agency responsible for charting out plans for organized development of the the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), has remained defunct for about 15 years at a time when rampant urbanization has wreaked havoc on the city's beauty and strained resources.

The CPC, which came into existence after the democratic movement of 1991, has done nothing since 2001, the year in which the tenure of locally elected representatives expired, according to the KMC officials.A CPC secretariat chief, a planning officer and two junior staff have been receiving salaries even though the commission has done nothing all these years.

The CPC was formed 25 years ago in line with the practice in some developed countries to formulate plans for five-year, 10-year and 20-year to develop the city as per accepted development standards and the need of the time.

However, the body could not get any of its plans for the city implemented.

The unit still exists as an arm of the KMC, but it is completely dysfunctional, said Mahesh Kafle, information officer and chief of Revenue Division at the KMC.

"The KMC formulates annual programs of more than Rs 3 billion without any far-sighted planning and visions," he added. "As a result, the city has become increasingly chaotic."

The Asian Development Bank, The World Bank and the Germany government proposed different plans at different times for the systematic development of the metropolis. However, none of them were implemented, said the KMC officials.

Five years ago, in its bid to recruit planners, the KMC published a vacancy notice proposing to pay a salary of Rs 50,000.

"No experienced candidate responded to the call. Only inexperienced people applied for the job," said Kafle. "No got hired."

Every year, budget and programs are announced without any specific plans, said Badri Bahadur Karki, chief of the CPC secretariat. "Urban infrastructure development department, heritage department and environment department prepare annual programs based on their personal whims and interests," he added.

"Although we have been appointed to oversee planning efforts, they don't consult us before devising the programs. The local body elections are a must to reactivate the CPC and make it functional."

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