Kathmandu Kora 2016

A report on one the largest cycling event of the country : Kathmandu Kora Cycling Challenge

-Chakshu Malla

We, CCNN have always been the proud partner of Kathmandu Kora Cycling Challenge from the year 2012. After the overwhelming number of participants on last year’s “Recovery Ride”, we were too pumped up for this year’s biggest cycling event of Nepal. So, we started working for Kora16 as early from the 1st of June! On this date, we did the first recce ride for 50 K challenge. Although most of the trail remains the same, but we need to do the recce because you never know what’s going around Kathmandu’s suburb on this time of the year (all the construction work on road happens in this season, seriously).

Kora, since its inception back in 2011 has always been about having fun on bicycle on one hand and raising funds for some philanthropy cause on the other. Fund collected by 35 cyclists in 2011 were handovered to Samata School Boudha. Later, fund were collected to build birthing centers in rural Nepal (Rukum and Baitadi completed, Pyutar and Makaibari; under construction). Every rider who participate on this ride ask the pledge of 100 rupees each KM they ride, and this is all voluntary! And, this year we had 2 causes, an ambulance for Ghatlang, Rasuwa and School Rebuilding in Shikharbesi, Nuwakot.

Preparation
Coming back to the Kora16 preparation, we had new member in the Kora team, the Great Himalaya Trails. They were supporting us on the trail marking and Kora App. Well this year we didn’t have the Jersey and lunch sponsor. So, we asked all the riders to come up with their own jersey or the jerseys from previous Koras. For lunch, Raj dai brought the idea of Kora Food Court where riders buy food from different stalls at reasonable price. All these idea of bringing own jersey and buying own food may sound injustice for regular Kora riders but believe us, it’s the only way of making this kind of event sustainable. With this current growth rate of Kora riders, we won’t be surprised if 5000 riders participated within few years. Just think about distributing free jerseys and lunch for that number of people! These offers may attract a huge crowd for this ride but don’t groom the MTB crowd as it should be, being self sustained.
Trail Marking
This year we had 3 kind of trail markers on our mind, Permanent, Semi-Permanent and Temporary. As Kora date appeared closer, we were really behind the time for trail marking so we dropped out the idea for Permanent marking. While discussing about the details of semi-permanent trail markers, we started warm up rides for our CCNN Youth Squads to make them ready for the big day. On the final week, we finally had the semi permanent trail markers on our hand. From the first recce we had basic idea how much trail markers we need, so made 300 for each challenges on 3 different colors.

First day of trail marking was a real nightmare, because we were just adjusting ourselves how to drill and make them visible. We were carrying some kilograms of nails on our bag and later on found wires were the better option. Next day, trail marking went a bit faster but drilling every trail maker was another time consuming job. Accidently, we found drilling from the workshop was much faster and drilled those all from our friend’s workshop, it didn’t took more than 15 minutes to drill 150 markers. While we were busy for the 50 K trail, we hadn’t yet started for 75 and 100 K, time was slipping from our hand. But team NCRR (Nepalese Cyclists Ride to Rescue) and Himalayan Single Track came to rescue us! Their super energetic boys completed that task in just 2 days.

Team CCNN for Kora16
Recce rides, warm up rides were not only the things we did to our Youth Squad to make them Kora ready. We previously did one day first aid training and also a basic mechanic training. Besides the trail guiding, our team were ready for the first aid and mechanic supports too.

Team:
1. Bijaybar Pradhan (Medic)
2. Samartha Kaji Shakya (Trail guide)
3. Kripa Dangol (Medic)
4. Binaya Adhikari (Trail guide)
5. Hari Sharan Nagarkoti (Trail guide, Mech.)
6. Shishir Raj Joshi (Trail guide, Mech.)
7. Usha Khanal (Trail guide, Medic)
8. Niren Maharjan (Trail guide, Medic)
9. Prez Amatya (Trail guide, Medic)
10. Samyak Shrestha (Medic, Mech.)
11. Tshering Nuru Sherpa (Trail guide, Medic)
12. Khasing Chandra Rai (Trail guide)
13. Manish Maharjan (Trail guide, Medic)
14. Bidi Yolkey Rai (Trail guide)
15. Simon Paudel (Trail guide)
16. Utsav Dhungana (Trail guide)
17. Chakshu Bikram Malla (Trail guide)
18. Bishal Rajbhandari (Photographer)
19. Sailendra Dongol (Trail guide, Medic)
20. Devendra Basnyat (Trail guide (lead))
21. Manisha Maharjan (Medic)
22. Kunal Krishna Chaudhary (Medic)
23. Samip Shrestha (Trail guide)
24. Samir Maharjan (Trail guide)
25. Atish Singh (Trail guide)
26. Dhashan Shrestha (Photographer)

Kora Day

We just hurried to get to the Mangal bazzar on this day, because Shyam Limbu from Himalayan Medics had asked us to there at 6:30 for the safety briefing. After having some bananas and Jerry Swarry, Shyam dai briefed us how to handle the accident scenes. And, then we shared our line-up number before finally heading to the Kora line up. As our photographers were busy snapping the crowd, we waited for the kick off time for 50 K challenge. The ride kicked off at 7:55, five minutes before the announced schedule. The biggest crowd of Kora16, the 50 K challengers slowly started getting out of the ancient town Patan towards Jawalakhel. Besides the Team CCNN for Kora16, we had our regular Kora riders from CCNN, Gaurab dai, Diwash dai, Prashanta, Pramesh were on their own for this big day.

Being on the lead team for couple of Koras, we realized the pace of 50 K riders have increased as soon we reached the first water station of Naikap. As always, it was hard for us this time too to slow down the ever energetic riders following the lead. So, from Naikap we tried to setup 3 layers of riders from our own circle to maintain the speed which only worked up to Syuchatara. I overtook the lead and hurried to meet a local volunteer who was supposed to be at the sharp bent of Syuchatar downhill, was already standing with the signage she made herself reading “50 K Kora” with the arrow in it. She even informed me 5 riders have already crossed her.

Unlike previous Koras, we were riding more comfortably because of all those trail marks and the Kora App. And, we were stoked to see the local support in junctions of Kirtipur and Syuchatar, those people were voluntarily standing on road to show the trail. The supports from local bike shops of Kathmandu were overwhelming too. Himalayan Single Track, PANC Bike, Gearventure helped with the water station, these stations were vital for the ride because hydrating the riders means, safer ride and those stations also helped for regrouping. After arriving at the second water point of Ichangunarayan, we take water break of around 20 minutes because we arrived too early. At around 9, we resumed our ride by that time 100 and 75 K lead had already overtaken us.
We tried to slow down the speed on the downhill section of Ichangunarayan which is infamous for big accidents. Till then up to the third water point of Dhapasi we somehow managed to keep up the slower pace. This pace continued even up to the fourth water point of Golfutar. Soon after leaving this 4th water point it started raining bit heavily. Well, it was a good sign because we had two pretty good up hills on our way before reaching the Boudha lunch spot. It was around noon when we arrived at the Kora Food Court inside Samata School Boudha premise. At this location, we waited around 50 minutes because of the rain, and we actually wanted to collect a good number of riders for the final stretch of Kora challenge.

With black clouds covering the Kathmandu sky, we had a pretty pleasant ride for this final stretch. The ride went pretty smoothly even after going through the traffic chocked roads of Pepsi Cola and Balkumari. We still had pretty good number of riders behind us while entering the ancient Kingdom of Patan via Balkumari. And, it was almost 2 when we reached the Mangal Bazzar. To our surprise, a good number of riders had already been there and were waiting for the Kora Finsher’s Medal! We were stoked to see the riders from Jhapa, Hetuada and Pokhara. 7-year-old Suyog who completed the 50 K with support from his father was the most celebrated rider at the finish point. Well yes, we too had celebrities who did the Kora. Karma was seen proudly posing for photos with his medal and bike. Anoop Bikram Shahi completed his 50 K challenge with his gym buddies.

Kora is getting bigger every year, and we are trying to make this better. Trail marking, Kora App, these were the improvements we did this year and we obviously try to make better than this the upcoming year. We Cycle City Network Nepal, feels proud for being part of this biggest cycling event of Nepal. We are very much positive on our dream of making the cities of Nepal cycle friendly with this growing number of cyclists. We believe this growing population of cycle users will empower our team to better lobby for cycle-friendly policies with government agencies.

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Bike to School @ Triyog

Date:13/12/2015

School: Tiryog Higher Secondary School

No of Participants :60

Age group:13-15

Facilitator: Chakshu Malla

Volunteers (Supporters): Dharma Nagarkoti, Kunal Chaudary , Samartha Shakya, Bijayabar Lal Pradhan

Activities’ Description: Bike to school is an initiative designed to let children learn more about cycles. This will include helping them learn about the rules and regulations, safety, road rules, different parts of cycle, Using and riding a cycle.Bike to school, as the name stands, will also motivate the kids to ride their cycles to school or to ride a cycle in general. Response/Interaction from/with participants: The kids were very excited to hear about this. They participated and were very interested in the activities we did. The kids learned about the different kinds of accidents that can occur while riding a cycle and also learned how they could use safety gears. Along with this, the kids learned how to use gears and all the different parts of the cycle. Could have been better if (from our side): If the projector had worked we could have showed the kids a power-point presentation. This would have been more effective and less time consuming as, because the projector failed to work, we had to divide the kids into groups and this required 4 volunteers. It would’ve been easier if we could’ve done the presentation. There were not as many questions from their side as we had expected. The school faculty did not provide as much time as required for completing the session and we had to end it in a hurry. Feedback from participants/teachers/principal: The school faculty were also very helpful and helped us learn more about risks to a child’s safety while riding a cycle.The principal of the school suggested us to do a ride for the kids so that they could open a club in school. The faculty seemed very interested in getting kids to ride to school but were worried about the children’s safety and health.But in the end, everyone seemed impressed in what KCC network had to offer.

 

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First Team Ride 50 K route

Date: June 25

Riders: Chakshu Malla, Preiz Amatya, Samartha Kaji Shakya, Hari Sharan, Usha Khanal, Agyeya Shrestha

Supposed to start at 7 AM from Patan, this first team ride actually started after 45 minutes of delay. The weather was perfect while we started our ride, and continued to be so for the whole day. We actually didn’t know how much time it will take us to complete the ride, because we usually used to do the recce rides section by section. With some chit chats, jokes and photo shoot in the trail we reached the first water point of Naikap around 9 AM.

Then, the ride went well till the Ichangu Narayan where we sat to have light lunch. And, this place is in fact the second water point. The weather was cool as in the morning, and we headed down the most accident prone of the entire Kora circuit, the infamous downhill of Ichangunarayan. We have been observing high accident rates on this particular section since 2012. After this one scary section comes pleasant ride along the suburb of Nagarjun forest. This area got pretty special vibes because of the almost rural like settling and closeness to the dense protected forest nearby. This vibe breaks as soon we enter the Bohoratar with a bustling market and motorcycles horns.

After the downhill of Balaju Baisdhara Park, the muddy roads with full of potholes lead to Balaju Bypass till Nepualtar Bus stop. We have a small change at this section this time, now the trail goes via Loktantrik Chwok finally to meet the old trail along the Bishnumati river. Like previous years we followed the suburb road till Tokha road, Dhapasi. After riding few hundred meters on this road we took the right turn and reached the third water point. And, we climbed a pretty good uphill to reach the Hepali Height. Hepali height to Golfutar is a pretty good ride. There will be another water point at Golfutar, we suggest you to take some rest here because the ride till Boudha is pretty tough and got few challenging uphills!

After this water point the well-maintained tarmac road leads you till few hundred metres, until you have to take an unexpected left turn at Mandikhtar. The road goes down to the Dhobikhola, after crossing the bridge and some winding roads prepare yourself for a serious climb. This climb got two sections, first one’s got a good uphill with some bends and the second one is a straight ascent towards the Kapan hill. Our boys were finding hard to maintain their speed. Don’t take too much seriously, push continuously there are enough resting points ahead. If you find hard, hydrate, rest but move onn! If you reach the Kapan Bus stand, think your Kora is almost over. So, we took time to recover ourselves. Now, we headed towards Boudha which was within 1 KM of distance.

After a Kora around Boudhhanath Stupa, we crossed the main street and took the road to Samata School. This school will be the lunch point for all the Kora riders. And, then we have the final stretch of Kora ahead. We headed towards Bagmati, rode along the river towards north east to cross the bridge on our right. Soon after crossing the bridge, a newly repaired road was ahead us but damn, it was another uphill again! Phew, we somehow managed to climb and it was a worth climb because there is a good view from there towards Boudha. And, yes I forget to mention this is the last uphill section and you are just behind the Tribhuwan International Airport.

Now, follow the road along the airport, this will lead you to Pepsicola Chwok. Prepare to tackle with Kathmandu traffic, go straight towards Jadibuti chwok. From this intersection, don’t follow the main highway, just cross this intersection and go to the other end, first take right but don’t follow the main highway towards Koteshwor. And, take left towards Narephaant, this section is pretty tricky but you can avoid the crazy traffic and dust for at least few KMs. This detour leads you to the Balkumari bridge on Ringroad. Yesss, Balkumari …., now we are in ancient Patan Kingdom. Now, its time to ride through the ancient old streets of Patan. It was nearly 2 O’clock when we reached the durbar square.

Map:

https://www.strava.com/activities/619957893/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US

 

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SEE YOU @ #Kora16

Kora 2016 Warm Up Ride

Date: Saturday, 2 July, 2016

Time: 7:00 AM –  5PM

Venue:

Title:Pre-Kora Ladies Ride

Organizer:

Theme:Warm up ride for Kora 2016

Event Summary:

The event was scheduled at sharp 7am and the gathering time was 6:45 am.We waited till 7:30 am for more riders.Around 7:30 we took group pictures and we started our ride with a total of  13 riders.Among them 9 were girls and 4 were boys.Even though we named it girls ride,we took some male riders too to make our ride convenient and to make the trail familiar for them too.The ride was helpful  for all of us in knowing  how  the trail is that we are going for kora.Since most of the riders were just a beginners,the trail was totally new.The trail was around the Kathmandu valley which covered Lalitpur, Kirtipur and Kathmandu.Most of the trail was muddy and we find it a bit difficult.The main objective of this ride was to make the girl and beginner  riders come forward and make them able to ride together.While riding we remind them three golden rules of cycling-Drink before you are thirsty,Eat before you are hungry,and change the gear before you need.We all tried our best to follow those rules.Since the way was too muddy,some of our friends had an accident but not that serious.We stopped at some of the beautiful places to take some photos.Due to the rain we couldn’t complete our 50 km ride and we didn’t force the riders to rush too.Overall the riders enjoyed the ride n they all were happy to be a part of it and it shows that they can go for kora 16.

Words: Usha Khanal

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We Stand Together With Refugees

Date:  Sunday, June 19 2016

Time: 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm

Venue: Basantapur Durbar Square

Title: We Stand Together With Refugees

Organizer: UNHCR

Theme:

Event Summary:

Marking World Refugee Day, 19 June UNHCR organized a cycle rally with title “We Stand Together With Refugees” under their #WithRefugees Campaign. The cycle rally was scheduled to start at 8:00am where 150+ cyclist was attended. A huge number of participants both local and foreigners attended this rally. A thematic jersey and placard were distributed to each of the participants. Though route was short distance, rally started at 8:10am from Basantapur it took around anhour  to complete rally till Bhanimandal. Hosted on a Sunday, the event gathered ample audiences as well as riders. Volunteer from CCNN were on their wheels and heels managing the crowd as well as the constant traffic that had started to creep on the roads. In the end, riders were offered light refreshments as well as photo corner to get more involved in the event.

Words: Kunal Krishna Chaudhary

Pictures: Dhasan Shrestha

Additional Coverage:
http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/6/5763d20d4/live-blog-world-refugee-day-kicks-amid-record-displacement.html

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-06-19/cycle-rally-organised-in-kathmandu-for-refugees.html

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Basic Bicycle Maintenance Workshop

Date:  Saturday, June 18 2016

Time: 10:00 am to 2:30 pm

Venue: Gnarly Headquarters, Jawalakhel

Title: Basic Bicycle Maintenance Workshop

Organizer: CCNN

Theme: Training

Event Summary:

“If I knew basic maintenance of my bike I would not search bike workshop to repair my bike at the top of Phulchowki Danda” said Usha Khanal, the only one female participant of Basic Bicycle Maintenance Workshop held at Gnarley Headquarter. 7 participants took basic workshop training which was started at 10 am by a team for city’s best mechanics led by Nailes Maharjan. Though workshop was divided into different part we started the 1st part as know your bike where all participant was introduced with all bike parts name. After that Basic Bicycle Maintenance i.e to fit puncture, checking air pressure, regular bike checkup steps, sit adjustment, bike washing tips were given. At last, traffic rules and regulations was discussed and open Q/A platform was provided to participant. Finally, workshop was ended with refreshment.

Words: Kunal Krishna Chaudhary

Pictures:Khasing Rai & Dharma Nagarkoti

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CCNN Sports Fellowship

Date:  Friday,June 17 2016 & Saturday, July 2, 2016

Time: 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm & 7:00 am to 10:00 am

Venue: River Field Futsal and Bhanimandal Club

Title: CCNN Sports Fellowship

Organizer: CCNN

Theme: Team Building

Event Summary:

With the presence of 16 volunteer from Cycle City Network Nepal futsal match was organized as KTM Vs Lalitupr cycle city. Giving platform to show their passion, team work spirit, confident score line was 11-11 goal.  Similarly, a fortnight later, CCNN volunteers took it to the basketball court and Bhanimandal shooting hoops against locals first and then spending the weekend morning in a league of 3v3 matches. Though match was tight all the volunteers played with discipline and sportsmanship. The event was headed by Sailendra Dangol, Vice President, CCNN  who even said that CCNN should organize many like this extra activities where volunteers can know each other, show team spirit and leadership.

Words: Kunal Krishna Chaudhary

Pictures: Dharma Nagarkoti, Samartha Shakya, Bijaybar Pradhan

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Introductory First Aid Course

 

Date: Saturday, June 11, 2016

Time: 9 AM – 5 PM

Venue: Nepal Communitere

Title: Introductory First Aid Course

Organizer: Cycle City Network Nepal (CCNN) and Himalayan Medics

Theme: Wilderness First Aid Training

Event Summary: On a Saturday morning, over 15 members both old and new of CCNN amassed at Nepal Communitere, Pulchowk for a “One Day Introductory Wilderness First Aid Course”. The First-Aid Training was to be offered by certified rescuers from Himalayan Medics. Rajesh Lama, Executive Director, Himalayan Medics and Shyam Limbu, Himalayan Medics were the trainers for the day.

The day started early for the participants with casual discussions for about half an hour after gathering before formally commencing the day’s learning journey. A statutory directive that was ass     erted early on was that the one-day training wouldn’t qualify the participants as doctors or professional aiders. Since CCNN has been active in various cycling events relevant to both urban as well as wilderness settings, the training was designed to cater bicycle volunteers to treat patients of similar injuries or illnesses.

Mr. Lama began the training with the basics along with theoretical background on the subject that covered patient assessment and scenario roleplay of the accident site. Mr. Limbu subsequently took the latter half of the day explaining various real life scenarios, practical action and blunders usually seen at the accident sites. Discussion of professional code, systematic approach added value to the training.

By the end of the day, participants knew their way around dealing a scene of accident, patient assessment, injury treatment, immediate rescue and patient movement. The training was neatly catered to fill in a day’s interval with theory sessions, roleplays and discussion. Each participant received a certificate of completion of the training.

 

Words: Prabal Man Dhaubhadel, Media and Communications Coordinator, CCNN

Pictures: Khasing Rai.

 

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KU Environment Day Rally 2016

 

 

Date:  Saturday, June 4 2016

Time: 6:00 am to 1:30 pm

Venue: Tinkune

Title: Marking Environment Day

Organizer: Kathmandu University

Theme:

Event Summary:

On the occasion of World Environment Day, another cycle rally was organized The event was scheduled at 6:45am for reporting riders, 7:00am to start ride and it was started according to schedule. 30km far from Kathmandu valley: Dhulikhel, around 70 participants were present. Firstly, Chakshu Bikram Malla, Executive Director, CCNN, introduced road rights and safety to cycle riders present for today’s ride. Then the rally soon commenced. Though new faces were presented on today’s ride we 5 volunteer from CCNN helped them in different term i.e.: gear shifting, seat height, road lane, etc.

After 2:30 hrs we reached to Kathmandu University. Though student themselves took management of rally there were certain problem (water spot management, backup vehicles). After rally there were many programmes scheduled for riders and visitors.

Words: Kunal Krishna Chaudhary

Let’s Talk About Bicycle

 

 

 

Date: Friday, June 10, 2016

Time: 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm

Venue: CCNN office

Title: Let’s Talk About Bicycle

Organizer: CCNN

Theme: To promote general bicycle discussion

Event Summary:  Scheduled for a Friday afternoon, the screening cum discussion event was delayed due to heavy showers. The event participants who were mostly bicycle commuters were held back due to the rain. After a long wait, the 3 pm event eventually took off at quarter past 4. We were a total of 20 participants who had gathered at the secretariat.

Prior to the movie screening, we watched innovative advertisements and marketing content related to the bicycles along with past works of CCNN on the video and media front. Then at around 4:30 pm we began the formal programme with the introduction. Since some of us were new, everybody shared a brief introduction and what the bicycle meant for them. After that around 5:10 we started watching the movie KLUNKERZ:A film About Mountain Bike History .The movie was about how the mountain biking started,what was the starting phase,who were behind bringing mountain biking forward; the one’s who gave birth to a whole new sport – mountain biking. It is an inspirational movie which shows how the people of those days figured out mountain biking the hard way using bikes without any suspension or front brake.After completing the movie Sailendra Dongol, Vice President, CCNN created a platform everybody got a chance to share their views,thoughts,ideas and the concept they got from the movie.

Words: Usha Khanal

Pictures: Khasing Rai

Pictures:Khasing Rai

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Maskmandu

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Date:  Sunday, June 5, 2016
Time: 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Venue:  Rastriya Sabha Ghriya, Kathmandu
Title:  #Maskmandu : Mask-must zone declaration
Organizers:
1. Aakar Nepal
2. National College
3. Power Shift Nepal
4. Tourism Development Endeavors (TUDE)
5. Golden Gate Int’l College
6. Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD)
7. Clean Energy Nepal
8. Clean up Nepal
9. Cycle City Network Nepal (CCNN)
10. Kathmandu Cycle City 2020
11. Digo Bikash Institute
12. Jiwanta Nepal
13. Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA)
14. Resource for Primary Health Care (RECPHEC)
15. Rotaract Club of Kupandole
16. YUWA
17. Institute for Urban Development and Policy Research – IUDPR
18. We Inspire Nepal
19. Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ)
20. Youth Thinkers Society (YTS)
21. Global Peace Young Leaders
Objective: Launch an inter-organizational ‘Campaign for Clean Air Rights’ on the occasion of World Envt. Day by declaring that Kathmandu has become a mask-must-zone.
Event Summary: 
More than 200 participants (campaigners, activist, cyclist and pedestrians) in front of Rastriya Sabhagriha, symbolically laid dead on the ground demanding urgent action to the government of Nepal. Campaign started off  with a flash mob and everybody joined them and laid dead to demand immediate action and ensure the constitutional right to live in a healthy and clean environment as stated in Article 30 in the Constitution of Nepal 2072.
Cycle City Network Nepal is part of the campaign that has 21 organizations in the team and is increasing. There was a higher participation of cyclist among others.  Cyclists are also the hardest hit victim of road air pollution, with heavy breathing while contributing the least to road dust. There was a very high coverage of the event in media, as it was of its a unique approach to a demonstration.

A petition was handed to the Ministry of Environment and Population during the official environment day cycle rally event of the government. The petition will be submitted to Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Health, Kathmandu Metropolitan City and all Municipalities in Kathmandu Valley, this week.

Campaigners demanded : 

  • Formulate ‘Comprehensive Clean Air Action Plan’ under urgent, mid-term and long-term strategy and legal measures such as ‘Clean Air Act’ to address this serious air pollution.
  • Take immediate action to install air pollution monitoring stations in key locations of Kathmandu valley
  • Devise stringent vehicle emission standard, enforcement of green sticker provision and take polluting vehicles off the road.
  • Upgrade the fuel standard including provisions of cleaner fuel, and mandatory provision to use emission control technologies especially in diesel vehicles.
  • Promote non-motorized transport system by building safer infrastructures for walking and cycling, and introduce environment-friendly, efficient and affordable mass transit to ensure sustainable urban mobility in Kathmandu Valley.
  • Follow proper environment management plan and take strict action against contractors for delayed road construction to address dust pollution from road construction activities.
  • Devise plans and take urgent action to reduce pollution industries especially from brick kilns and usage of diesel generators, and Ban open solid waste burning practices.
  • Pollution tax raised from petroleum has remained unspent. We ask the government to mobilize pollution tax immediately on air pollution mitigation activities and on implementing ‘Clean Air Action Plan’. We also request to invest the increased tax on fuel to be invested in mass public transport system, and make pollution industries and vehicles to pay their fair share for contributing to air pollution.

For online version of the petition :

Words: Dristy Shrestha

On the Media

eKantipur, Sagarmatha khabar, The Kathmandu Post, The Kathmandu Post, ZUMA Pictures of the day

Social:
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Pictures: Khasing Rai

Environment Day Rally 2016

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Date/Time: June 4th 2016, 7:30

Venue: Jawalakhel, Lalitpur

Title: World Environment Day 2016 Cycle Rally

Organizer: Ministry of Population and Environment

Supported by: Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF Nepal), Cycle City Network Nepal (CCNN) and The Small Earth Nepal (SEN)

Theme: Go Wild for Life, Be a part of Environment Day

Event Summary:  A Cycle Rally was organized to Celebrate World Environment Day, 2016 and raise awareness regarding the environment by the Government of Nepal. The number of participants were more than 300. The rally started from Jawalakhel ground and the route progressed through Pulchowk – Thapathali – Tripureshwor – Sundhara – Bir Hospital – Kantipath – Kesharmahal – Kingsway – DurbarMarg – Ghantaghar  and ended at Nepal Tourism Board(NTB), Bhrikutimandap. Cycle City Network Nepal (CCNN) was responsible for rally management. With the help of 14 volunteers from CCNN the rally was a successful spectacle of green shirts moving across the city roads. Due to present degrading air condition of Kathmandu, organizer chose to host an eco – friendly cycle promoting event emanating the message to be in conjunction with the environment. Similarly, the event was in awareness to reduce air pollution and move towards a livable city.

Words: Samyak Shrestha

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Pictures: Dhasan Shrestha

 

 

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