Name of Country : Nepal

Name of City : Kathmandu

Population : 414,000

Annual growth rate : 6%

No. of Households : 81,358

No. of Houses : 53995

Area : 4758.7 ha

Built Up Area : 2912.4 ha

Average Pop- Density : 87 persons / ha

Higher Pop- Density : 1200 persons / ha

Per Capital Income : Nepal - 180 US$

Kathmandu - 200 US$

1. Introduction of Kathmandu Metropolitan City

Kathmandu , the capital of Nepal is the nation's first political, administrative, commercial, touristic , educational and cultural center . It is situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters . The Valley in which the city is located , is surrounded by green mountains , shrines, temples , palaces, squares , ageless sculptures and legends that are part of every brick and stone and gilded masterpiece make a living museum of Kathmandu City .

"There are nearly as many temples as there are houses and as many idols as inhabitants here, not being a fountain or river or a hill within its limits that is not consecrated to one of the other of the Hindu or Buddhist deities " wrote a foreigner a long time ago .

The city of Kathmandu was built by King Gun Kamdev in 723 A.D . It is widely believed that Kathmandu was big lake and was made habitable when Manjushree cut the hill open at Chovar to drain out the water .

Kathmandu is one of the Three Historical Cities of Kathmandu Valley , the other two being , Lalitpur & Bhaktapur is an example of magnificent living museum of art , culture and architecture of medieval charm . Kathmandu is named after " Kastha- Mandap " meaning the temple made of wood in Sanskrit , an imposing Pagoda near Hanuman Dhoka Palace . It was built in 1596 out of single tree .

ii) Climate

Kathmandu has a pleasant sub- tropical cool climate . Summer ( June - August ) is warm to hot ( maximum temperature being 31 c ) with lots of rainfall , Spring ( March - May ) and Autumn ( September - November ) is warm during the day and cool in the night . Winter ( December - February ) is cold with minimum temperature of about 0 but mostly sunny during the days . The annual rainfall is about 1,300 mm.

2. Administration

i) Administrative Organization

Kathmandu Municipality was established as a city sanitation unit ( Saphai Adda ) about 74 years ago . In 1931 , it was changed to municipality office . The present Municipality was constituted according to Municipality Act 1990 consisting of 35 members exculding the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor . Kathmandu Municipality has been recently upgraded to Kathmandu Metropolitan City .

ii) Municipality Board

Membership Of Kathmandu Municipality Board

Party Number

Nepal Congress Party 21 ( including Mayor & Dy . Mayor )

Nepal Communist Party 14

Independent 2

¾

Total 37

All the Nepali Citizens aged 18 and above who are residents of the respective wards have voting rights to elect the number . The term of office is 5 years .

iii) Legislative Organ and its Responsibilities

The present Municipalities have been formed following the decentralized government action under the new Municipality Act . According the municipalities have been given a fair degree of autonnmy so far local government action is concerned .

iv) Policy Priorities & Activities

" Clean Green Healthy Kathmandu " is not only political slogan but also it is our Goal , Motto and Vision for better quality of life of Citizen . To fulfill this Goal , we are going to implement following activities

- Solid waste management

- Rehabilitation , improvement & extension of Storm water drainge ,

- Traffic management & Streetlighting

- Land development at Naya Bazar

- Environmental improvement in Bishnumati Corridor

- Landscaping & tree plantation

- Institutional development

- Preservation of Cultural Heritage sites & Monuments

- Computerised Management Information System and Geographical Information System

3. Historical Places and Cultural Heritage

Seven cultural heritages sites of Nepal have been in listed in the world cultural heritage list . They are as followins :

1. Swayambhunath Stupa complex

2. Pashupatinath Temple complex

3. Bouddhanath Stupa

4. Royal Palace ( Three Historical Royal Palace of malla dynasty of Kathmandu , Bhakatapur and Patan)

5. Changu Narayan Temple

The above mentioned cultural heritage sites lie in Kathmandu Valley . Among these , Swoyambhunath , Pashupatinath , Bouddhanath & Royal Palace of Malla Dynasty , are the Sites that are in Kathmandu itself under the Kathmandu Metropolitan City .

The stupa of Bouddhanath lies 8 km east of Kathmandu . This colossal & ancient stupa , one of biggest in thw world , has the all seeing eyes of Loard Buddha .

Historical Durbar Square of Kathmandu ( Hanuman Dhoka )

It is the historic seat of royalty . The Durbar Square , with its old temples and palaces , epitomizes the religious and cultural life of people . It is here that Kings of Nepal are crowned and their coronations soleminized .

These cultural heritages are the most prized possession of Kathmandu . The protection and preservation of these sites are the moral duty of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and all the citizens as well .