The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has sent a letter to the Department of Archeology (DoA) to get rid of the illegally run shops in Basantapur Area in Kathmandu.
There are many such shops being run towards the north of the Fire Brigade Office and in the buildings nearby Taleju Bhawani Temple. The removal is asked to be carried out within a week, according to the letter.
"It is the responsibility of the DoA to preserve the cultural, historical and archaeological heritage in the Kathmandu Valley including Basantapur Area," reminded the letter.
The KMC wrote to DoA after receiving widespread complaints from the public about such shops that were occupying public spaces illegally and were running commercial activities.
KMC spokesperson Ishworman Dangol shared that if the DoA does not remove such shops within a week, the KMC will spring into action to remove them. Basantapur Durbar Square is enlisted in UNESCO's cultural heritage site.
Many monuments in this site had sustained damages in the Gorkha Earthquake in 2015. Among them, 27 have been reconstructed in their original style. The reconstruction of those quake-damaged monuments in Basantapur area has been accelerated lately.
