LATE REALIZATON; ONE MUNICIPALITY MUST HAVE AT LEAST ONE FIREFIGHTING ENGINE

LATE REALIZATION
EVERY MUNICIPLITY IN COUNTRY MUST HAVE ONE FIRFIGHTING
ENGINE
Kathmandu, 14 March: The Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) is planning to take action against municipalities that do not have firefighting engines, The Himalayan Times repots

“We are going to take action against municipalities that do not have at least one firefighting engine,” said joint-secretary Reshmi Raj Pandey, chief of Municipal Management Division, MoLD. “If they do not manage the engines by the end of the current fiscal year, necessary action will be taken,” he said.

There are 58 municipalities, more than 100 towns, 75 district development committees and 3,915 village development committees across the country. However, the country has only 50 firefighting engines, according to MoLD. “Most engines are not functioning well and need maintenance to bring them into operation,” said MoLD officials.

On the other hand, many urban roads are so narrow that the engines cannot be taken to emergency sites.

Pandey said urban planning is haphazard and mismanaged. “The situation in Kathmandu Valley is worse. The road widening move should be implemented in to make them accessible to emergency services when needed,” he said.

According to MoLD, the ministry is providing 17 firefighting engines being donated by India to 13 municipalities within the current fiscal. “India will provide 17 ready-to-operate engines as donation, said Pandey.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City and Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan City each will receive two firefighting engines while Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City, Dhankuta, Lekhnath, Dhangadhi, Baglung, Bhadrapur, Dharan, Birendranagar and Ilam municipalities each will receive one firefighting engine.

Fire has broken out in cities and rural areas, destroying life and property worth millions.
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