Ministry working for development of emerging cities: DPM Singh

Kathmandu, June 24: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh has said that work is being done to make cities safe, clean and sustainable, including through the formulation of the Human Settlement Development Policy, Waste Management Bill, Urban Development Bill, and Bagmati Civilization Bill.     

Continuous attention has been given to policy-level reforms with the Urban Development Policy, 2081 being approved and implemented, he said while responding to the queries raised by the lawmakers during the discussion on various topics of the Ministry of Urban Development under the Appropriation Bill, 2082 in today's meeting of the House of Representatives,     

Minister Singh also said that in the new FY a total of Rs 91.3417 billion has been allocated for the programs to be implemented by the federal government, Rs 9.8962 billion for the the provinces and Rs 15.91 billion for the programs to be implemented by the local level.     

He said that although the density of human settlements has been increasing since the beginning of planned development there is no separate institutional structure to lead urban development in the long term. "A budget of Rs 400 million has been allocated to continue the program to pay the liabilities of 8,350 households that have not been completed yet under the Janata Awas Program."     

Deputy Prime Minister Singh also shared that more than 11,000 suspension bridges have been constructed so far by the federal, provincial and local levels, while budget has been allocated for the construction of 200 suspension bridges in the coming fiscal year.     

He also clarified that the program for the new FY has been proposed by giving priority to urban centers as the transformative strategy of the 16th Periodic Plan aims to develop major urban centers and provincial capitals as economic centers.     

A budget of Rs 2.83 billion has been allocated to develop the country's major tourist cities including Pokhara, Janakpur and Lumbini, Devdaha, Sainamaina, Tilottama, Ramgram and Siddharthanagar as disaster-resilient and livable cities by building integrated urban infrastructure.(RSS)