Kathmandu. Minister for Information and Communications, Dr. Bikram Timilsina and Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha jointly carried out an on-site monitoring of the management of the cables used in the Kathmandu Valley for many years.

The two ministers visited Gaushala, Old Baneshwor and Jadibuti among other areas to inspect the wires management works and took stock of the progress and problems surfaced with the officials of the bodies concerned. In the first phase, the government has launched a campaign to remove the unsystematic wires in six routes—Tripureshwor-Kalimati-Kalanki, Jadibuti-Pepsi-Cola, Tripureshwor-Lazimpat, Samakhusi-Town Planning-Gongabu, Kirtipur area and Old Baneshwor-Gaushala-Chabahil.

During the inspection, Minister for Communications Dr. Timilsina expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of expected progress despite the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) promising to complete the first phase of work by July 29. Directing the authorities concerned to complete the works on time so that the citizens could feel the results, he made it clear that no agency or person delaying the works would be spared.

“We had made a commitment to complete the project by 15th July, but the progress so far does not seem to have progressed as per the target. This problem is not just the cause of any one agency, but the common weakness of all of us. Now, we should focus on the solution by making effective coordination among all the bodies,” he said, adding, “Citizens want results, so no one has the excuse to delay in the works.” Continuous monitoring will be carried out whether the works are carried out within the stipulated time and necessary action will be taken against the agencies and individuals not fulfilling their responsibilities. “

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Timilsina directed the government to remove the cables that are not in use immediately and said that the service providers who hang wires on the poles should also take the responsibility of removing them. He also directed the NTA to play the role of an effective regulator and implement an integrated action plan with clear deadline by coordinating with all service providers.

He also praised the technical human resources for their continuous work despite rainy season and stressed the need of speeding up the work.

Likewise, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said that all agencies should be responsible to make the work of unsystematic wire management and underground cabling in an effective manner. Stating that improvement in the beauty of the city following the wire management in New Road and Bishal Bazaar areas was exemplary, he said work would be carried out in the same model in other areas as well.

“The removal of unsystematic wires would not be successful with the sole efforts of the government or any single institution,” he said. Regulatory bodies, service providers and local levels should all work with the same goal. It is not only related to the safety of the citizens but also to the construction of a well-managed and beautiful city. ´´

On the occasion, the ministers also inspected the state of electricity distribution infrastructure. The government is preparing to run wire management campaign as a pilot project in six different areas of Kathmandu and expand it to other areas as well based on the experience gained from it. For this, the process of necessary legal reforms is also underway on the issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the thematic ministry.

Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) Chairman Arjun Ghimire said that work execution has been delayed for some time due to rainfall. According to him, the work has been affected due to difficulty in identifying the ownership of the wires installed on the poles in many places, lack of tags to identify the service provider and the provision of not allowing people to work on the road during day time has also affected the work.

Currently, the task of removing the wires in the old Baneshwor-Gaushala-Chabahil area is going on in a rapid manner while the management is taking place in a phased manner in other places prioritized by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City. In addition, all telecommunication and internet service providers have been instructed to mandatorily display the identity tag of the organization on their wires.

The government on July 14 had directed Nepal Telecommunication Authority, Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Telecom, Ncell and ISPAN to prepare an integrated action plan and complete the first phase of work by the second week of August. Prior to this, the NTA had issued a public notice on June 11 directing the removal of unsystematic and unused wires in six different areas in a phased manner.

The lack of unmanaged wires has not only increased the security of the citizens but also affected the beauty of the city. To address this problem, the government has announced it as a campaign and aims to make the capital safe, systematic and beautiful by making it time-bound, coordinated and result-oriented.