World Habitat Day being observed today

KATHMANDU: The ‘World Habitat Day-2022’ is being observed in Nepal by organizing various programs today.

The celebration of the Day is delayed this year as the first Monday of October, on which the Day is observed every year, coincided with the occasion of Dashain in Nepal.

The World Habitat Day, 2022 main celebration committee organized a press conference on Sunday and shared the information about the activities being conducted for the Day.

The Day is marked globally every first Monday of October at the call of UN since 1986.

Celebration committee coordinator and Chief of Housing Division at Ministry of Urban Development, Joint Secretary Ramchandra Dangal, said Nepal had been observing the Day since 2001.

A seminar is being organized to observe the Day where experts would present working papers on various themes, including urban development and smart city.

The Ministry, Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, Institute of Engineering, and Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan Cities will present the working papers, he added.

Similarly, Housing Company Ltd, UN Habitat, Municipal Development Trust and various municipalities are conducting the programs, stressing the need of sustainable and environment-friendly urban development, according to Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.

It was also informed that the housing program and safe people’s housing program the government had launched were being enforced at both province and local levels. The central government was coordinating for the programs, according to Joint Secretary Dangal.

The representatives at federal, province and local levels have been given the authority to select the beneficiaries.

Chief of Programme Section at Department, Mira Gyawali, said that Rs 3.41 billion was allocated for both the programs in this fiscal year. However, it would require additional budget of Rs 5 billion in order to complete these programs in this fiscal year.

The Constitution of Nepal, 2015 has ensured the right to housing as the fundamental right of citizen.