Nepal

Around 10 am on a recent morning, two KMC police personnel stood guard on the traffic-choked street of Sankhamul, Baneshwor. As more vehicles streamed in, they moved around trying to help traffic police personnel.

When enquired one of them said, “We are trying to help rid the city of traffic congestion.”
As the metropolitan police personnel patrolled the area, street vendors disappeared, and no carts filled with vegetables or fruits were visible. It was an unusual sight in a city which, until a few months ago, would remain crowded with all kinds of vendors.

Now policing in the metropolis of nearly two million people is set to get better – or worse as far as roadside vendors' woes are concerned – as KMC prepares to double the size of its police force. It plans to do so by hiring private security guards through a private contractor.

As of now, KMC has been mobilising nearly 150 police personnel, led by SP Raju Pandey, to patrol the city’s streets and neighbourhoods. 

Two weeks ago, it signed an agreement with Unique Securities, a private security guard supplier, for 162 more security personnel.

Beefing up security

Sunil Lamsal, engineer at KMC Mayor Balendra Shah’s Secretariat told NepalMinute.com that the new police recruitment is aimed at managing the human resource shortage.

Lamsal added: “We have significantly increased the works; this requires us to significantly increase the personal too.”

He said: “Don’t be surprised if you see no any footpath traders and street vendors on the road in a week or two.

“We have vowed to solve the problems.”

Lamsal said: “This beef up will increase the efficacy of the KMC Metropolitan Police and will help to put a stop in any wrongdoings.”

Metro-Police chief's plans

The metropolitan which is adding on the “long list of crackdowns” is getting short in manpower, according to SP Raju Pandey, chief of Metropolitan Police Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

Pandey said: “As we have a long list of work like taking action against open garbage disposal, wrongly and illegally put hoarding boards, and footpath traders among others.”

For new recruits, KMC had made it mandatory to have at least five years of experience on Nepal Police, Armed Police Force or Nepal Army. They should be under the age of 40 if they are male and under 45 if they are female, says KMC.

It is also planning to increase patrolling at night to clampdown on the waste disposal and garbage burning, acts KMC has not been able to control despite repeated warnings.

“Some people have heeded but not everyone seems sincere. Some people are still disposing and even burning garbage in open places at night or in very early morning,” said Pandey, adding, “With the new addition, patrolling in these garbage hours will be increased.”

KMC has made different groups to address different problems.

For instance, a few metropolitan police groups are being deployed to pull of the illegal hoarding boards while some are being deployed to crack down on the street vendors. There are certain groups just dedicated to take haphazardly parked motorbikes.

Same old contractor delay

But Pandey said: “Although it has provided us with 162 persons, Unique Securities company is yet to submit legal papers to KMC. The delay is affecting our work.”

Pandey, who was promoted to chief in August, is hopeful, they will hear from Unique Securities soon.

Once they get the documents, each new personal will get training and uniform and will be legally deployed in the field “to eliminate the wrongdoers”.