Narayanhiti Palace Museum, Sundhara, Tripureshwor, Soltimod, Putalisadak, Singha Durbar, Tribhuwan International Airport, New Baneshwor, Maitighar Mandala, among others, are the places where the flag posts were installed because these are the roads through which foreign delegation are mostly led during their visits in the country. [break]
But during road expansion most of them were uprooted.According to Department of Road (DoR), they had to remove the flag posts because they came in the way of road expansion work. But most of the flag posts that were removed were already in pathetic condition.
“We have to remove them and if we did not, then they would be destroyed automatically after some time because they were already in bad condition,” said Shyam Kharel, head of the Kathmandu Valley Road Improvement Project.
Though most of the flags posts are in pathetic condition, the government has failed to recognize the concerned body that should take care of the flag posts.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Department of Information (DoI), Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has been sometimes identified as the government agencies that constructed the flag posts.
That is the reason why Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and DoR, which are currently responsible for construction and maintenance of flag posts, are not ready to take the responsibility.
They refuse to own up the responsibility saying that maintaining the poles is the task of the very organizations that built it.
According to the chief of KMC Implementation Dhanapati Sapkota, the flags posts are not KMC´s responsibility. Though KMC is not responsible, they will help and assist in the maintenance. “The government should find out the organization which has built the flag posts,” says Sapkota.
Two and half years ago, Sapkota had submitted a report about the flag posts and their condition to Ganesh Rai, then chief executive officer of KMC. But no initiatives were taken during that period. Rather they are pointing at DoR as the agency that should take care of the flag posts including their reconstruction.
“The government should give responsibilities to the DoR because it will be convenient for them to construct the flag posts alongside the road construction work,” said Sanjay Raj Upadhyay, chief of Physical Planning and Construction Department, KMC. “KMC is always ready to help them in any matter.”
Although KMC points at the DoR as the responsible agency for flag posts, the DoR will not carry out any construction until the government orders it to do so.
“We will definitely carry out flag post construction if the government tells us to do so,” says Kharel. “If the government gives us the order, then we will have to reconstruct all the flag post of Kathmandu Valley as they need immediate renovation and protection.”
Flag posts used for displaying commercial advertisement
GYAN NEUPANE/KATHMANDU, Aug 10: At a time when Kathmandu Metropolitan City´s (KMC) campaign to remove hoarding boards is in full swing, some flag posts, which were originally built for hoisting national flag during the visits of foreign dignitaries, continue to be used for putting up commercial advertisements.
Since the last two years, a private company has been using the poles to put up commercial hoarding boards in New Road and Basantapur areas of Kathmandu. On August 24, 2011, the KMC signed an agreement with the private company to let it use the poles to put up hoarding boards. In return, the company was responsible to install CCTV cameras to help the police keep an eye on suspicious activities in the area.
Recently, the KMC had introduced a set of standards to regulate hoarding boards in the capital. As per the standards, hoarding boards cannot be put up in certain areas like near monumental zones and sensitive government offices. The rule has also set limit on sizes of hoarding boards. These hoarding boards not only occupy flag-poles but also violate the standards as many of them are in the vicinity of Basantapur Durbar Square, one of most zones of historic importance.
Although the KMC is now removing all those hoarding boards that do not comply with the government´s standards, commercial advertisements hung from poles meant for hoisting national flags are unlikely to be brought down.
Dhanpati Sapkota, chief of implementation unit at the KMC, says they tried to remove hoarding boards hung from flag-poles but failed to do so under pressure from the company, which was granted permission by the KMC to use these poles for the next five years. "It´s very sad that the space for flag-poles have been occupied with commercial advertisements," said Sapkota.
Rabi Tandukar, proprietor of Wheels Pvt. Ltd., that has used flag-poles for putting up commercial advertisements, says, "We will not let the KMC staff bring down our hoarding boards. How can they breach their own agreement?" According to Tandukar, they have spent over Rs 4 million to install 25 CCTV cameras in New Road area with a system that the police can use to monitor activities in the area from their own office. "We have not used these poles without paying anything," said he.
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