Nepalgunj Mayor dedicated to meet needs of people

Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, located at the centre of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces, is a hub of education, health and business in the area. Prashant Bista, the mayor, is working to make the sub-metropolis the best in western Nepal.

He is working with the aim of making it a major hub of tourism, economic capital, education and health as well as a beautiful model city.  Mayor Bista recently talked to Siraj Khan, the Nepalgunj correspondent of The Rising Nepal, about the work he has performed in a year and his future plans. Excerpts:  

How do you evaluate the first year of your term as Mayor of Nepalgunj Sub Metropolitan City? 

A year has passed since I assumed the office after being elected. I have taken this year as a year of gaining experience and knowledge. In the past one year, on the one hand, we were more focused on creating various laws and procedures, on the other hand, I felt that we spent a lot of time evaluating the entire situation of the sub-metropolis and studying on how to improve the situation and move forward. Even though the previous team had worked despite the lack of laws, regulations and procedures, it could not always work that way. That is why we have paid more attention to creating laws, regulations and procedures. Based on the policies, rules and laws, it will be easy and simple to make and implement plans and programmes that will meet the needs of the people in future. 

Based on one year's experience, what kind of problems and challenges have you found in the sub-metropolis?

Based on the experience and study of the past one year, I have found that the main problems and challenges in Nepalgunj are flooding, stray cattle, traffic management, waste management, the condition of educational and health institutions. We have formed a team for the detailed study of these problems. The public have high expectations from the local government, which is natural. We will have to work hard for the next four years to solve all the problems and challenges. We have started preparations for that.

How do you solve all these problems and challenges?

Solving all these problems and challenges means to make the city an excellent sub-metropolis. Nepalgunj is becoming a model and modern city in western Nepal. To make it flood-free, we have cleaned the canals that have not been cleaned for 20 years. To solve the problem of stray cattle, we have managed an area to keep 400 cattle by signing an agreement with Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality. We have implemented awareness-generating programme for traffic management through request and besides continuing it in the future we plan to act tough against those disregarding it. We have started waste management, improvement of schools and made them free of metal roof and also taking initiative to gain trust of public in health sectors and hospitals.

You are currently busy with budgeting, what have you prioritised in upcoming budget? 

The budget is a matter that directly concerns the people. In order to make this sub-metropolis a model city and fulfill the development wishes of the people, we are preparing a budget to solve the problems and challenges by proritising education, health, construction of roads and canals, sanitation and job creation. 

What are your future plans and programmes?

Since it is a local government, we cannot make big plans and programmes due to limited resources. We have to work on issues like education, health, sanitation, infrastructure development and orderly cities that are directly related to the people. Therefore, future plans and programmes are being made covering these topics.

What is being done to fulfill the promises made to the people in the election?

We have started the process of fulfilling the promises made to the people during the election. We talked about the construction of disabled-friendly offices, construction of public toilets in crowded areas, waste management, traffic management, stray cattle management and others. As the first effort, we are making the sub-metropolis disabled-friendly and will make it mandatory in all offices. We are also working to fulfill other promises.

What is the coordination and cooperation with the provincial and federal governments?

We have already made it clear to the provincial and federal governments that they should provide conditional grant and other budget for the plans put forward by the municipality and recommended by the wards to solve the problems facing the public. However, the budget is found to have been allocated on the basis of personal and political recommendations without coordinating with the local government. We should renounce this tendency. The plans sent by centre and province should be focused on the need of local government.