Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has started removing slabs over the Samakhusi River, which runs through KMC-3.
According to ward chair Prem Thapa, KMC had started removing slabs in ward no. 3 from mid-June while the work in Ranibari began three days ago.
Thapa said that houses built encroaching the river would also be demolished. There are also plans to plant trees on either side of the river, he added.
Thapa said that there are 20 such houses in ward no. 3. “They have also obtained a stay order from the court, they are ready to leave if they receive compensation,” he said, adding that they were discussing the matter.
A 13-year-old boy, Sajan Magar, was swept away by a flash flood in the river on July 23 after he fell into the river through an opening where there was no slab. His body was found on the Bagmati riverbank at Dakshinkali Municipality-7 on Thursday.
According to ward chair Thapa, walls would be raised and iron fences built on either side of the river after it returns to its old form.
The river is polluted as sewage from the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kanti Hospital, Police Hospital, Police Training Academy, President’s Office and other places flows into it.
KMC will make separate arrangements for managing sewage from those places, said Thapa.
Here are some pictures taken on Friday.
