Lalitpur, April 19 : Tourists would be taken around a tour of heritage sites in Patan via five routes of Lalitpur, namely Pulchowk, Balkumari, Mahabouddha, Lagankhel and Patandhoka, the Lalitpur Metropolitan City stated.    

This initiative was inaugurated on Sunday with Lalitpur mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, Ambassador of Finland to Nepal, Mr.

Pertti Anttinen, Sri Lankan ambassador to Nepal, Ms Himalee Arunatilaka, senior director at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Hikmat Singh Ayer, president of Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Manoj Bahadur Nyachhyon, among others taking a heritage walk.  

They went on a heritage walk of Shreebahal, Nabahal, Purnachandi, Mangalbazaar and other areas in Patan on the occasion.    

Mayor Maharjan said this initiative has been taken with a goal of increasing number of foreign and domestic tourists in Lalitpur.    

"We have brought a plan to operate electric bus from Pulchowk to Lagankhel then on to Jawalakhel via Mangalbazaar and back to Pulchowk.

Similarly, electric bus would be run on the second route from Jawalakhel to Sanepa via Lagankhel, Ekantakuna, Dhobighat and Kupondol.  

The tourist buses would be operated free of cost and the electric vehicles will soon enter Patan," he said.    

According to the mayor, the tourists could travel in the electric buses for three days without any charge. The objective is to extend the tourist stay in Lalitpur so that they can observe all touristic places in the city and contribute to tourism revenue.  

Nyachhyon said Lalitpur remains as a lively museum of art and culture and promised to contribute for the dissemination of tangible and intangible heritages in the district. 

Chamber 's tourism and cultural promotion committee coordinator Aapulal Awale said preparations were going on to roganise a trekking comprising above mentioned five routes on every last Saturday of the month, to publish an informative book about Patan and to conduct other tourism promotional activities.    

Some ward chairs from the metropolis, Trekking Association of Nepal (TAAN) president Khumbu Subedi, Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) vice president Binayak Shah, Tourist Guide Association of Nepal (TURGAN) president Badri Nepal and Chinese Guide chair Nishan Pradhan were among those present at the programme.