Valley population crosses 2 million: study

The population of Kathmandu Valley has exceeded 20 lakh and is likely to grow exponentially if measures are not taken to stem the influx of people, a study said.

Prof. Dr Bal Kumar KC, chief of the Central Department of Population Studies, said this at a program on Thursday, the Rising Nepal reported. Prof. KC said the internal migration pattern into the valley is increasingly being chaotic in the absence of a concrete plan till now regarding regulating it despite that fact the policy in this direction has already in place.

KC and other speakers in the program said the government should take immediate measures to check the impending alarming situation. They were of the view the government should either implement necessary basic infrastructure development projects based on the size of population in the valley or make arrangement to regulate people’s stay at the regional level by identifying their reasons for moving into the city areas.

This study said influx of people into the valley is growing for security, opportunity and facility reasons. The report also the population migrating to the terai plains from the mountains is increasing.

The latest census shows that half of the country’s population, accounting for 48.4 percent of total population, lives in the Terai region, the report said. nepalnews.com dr Sep 16 05