KATHMANDU, Aug 27: Private school and college operators in the Kathmandu Valley have sought a formal request from the government after the Metropolitan Traffic Police Office (MTPO) asked their cooperation to ease traffic management during the upcoming Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit to be held in the capital.
Traffic police officials believe that the closure of schools and colleges could greatly help to ensure smooth traffic management during the fourth BIMSTEC Summit scheduled for August 30-31. The movement of foreign dignitaries is set to begin from August 28 as the heads of state or government of BIMSTEC member states are landing here to take part in the summit.
Senior police officials at MTPO claimed that it would be a great help to the traffic police if the schools closed down during this great diplomatic event. “If the schools closed down on the days that the summit is going to be held, it would be a great help to us, making it more convenient to manage the traffic,” said chief of MTPO, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Pant.
The MTPO has requested both private and public school and college operators to close schools in the Kathmandu valley on August 30 and 31.
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SSP Pant added that it will also make it easier for the children who would be forced to travel in a congested way since vehicles would have to run on odd-even basis from August 29 to 31.
However, Private and Boarding Schools' Organization, Nepal (PABSON), the umbrella organization of the private schools across Nepal, has claimed that private schools in the Kathmandu valley will not remain closed during the event until the government officially requested them to do so.
“The schools won't remain close even if they will only be allowed to operate half of their vehicles,” President of PABSON Bijay Sambahamphe said. “We will close schools only if the government officially requests us to do so.”
He said that the government will have to allow us to run classes for a couple of Saturdays after the summit is over to compensate the course missed as per school calendar.
Odd numbered vehicles to run on Aug 29, 31; even numbered on Aug 30
The MTPO has decided to enforce odd-even number system to manage the VIP movements in the valley during the BIMSTEC summit. MTPO has announced that only odd numbered vehicles would be allowed to operate on August 29 and 31 while only even numbered vehicles would be allowed on August 30.
“We decided to enforce the system to ensure that the VIP movements take place smoothly during the summit,” SSP Pant said, adding that the MPTO is predicting only half of the usual traffic flow during the summit.
Previously, in the SAARC summit the MTPO had enforced the same system in order to manage the traffic in the valley.
