Kirtipur is yet to enforce the building code, though 17 years have passed since it became a municipality.
The government had declared Kirtipur, which now has 19 wards, 19,441 households and a population of 65,602, a municipality on March 31, 1997. If the number of site map approvals is anything to go by, 300 new houses add up in the municipality every year.
“We are yet to implement the building code in the municipality,” concedes Keshav Bhattarai, executive officer of the municipality. He points that lack of human resources is the main impediment in the implementation of the code. The Building Act 1998, Nepal National Building Code 2008 and the Local Self-Governance Act 1999 have provisioned implementation of the house construction code for safety, beauty and proper management of a city. The 18th municipal council meeting held about a year ago had decided to implement the code and other rules related to construction in the municipality.
Bhattarai admits that implementation of rules can mitigate natural disasters and protect public land. “We will discuss building code enforcement at the municipal council meeting slated to begin from January 12,” he says.
“We will have to first formulate laws, train officials and develop necessary infrastructure before implementing the rules,” Bhattarai says. “We will begin preparations for the same from this fiscal itself.” Some of the major attractions of Kirtipur include Bagh Bhairav, Uma Maheshwor, and Jalbinayak temples.
source: the himalayan times,11 Jan 2014