KATHMANDU: Ncell Axiata Limited as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, has taken up the responsibility for building and maintaining the greening of Koteshwor-Kalanki Ring Road stretch in collaboration with the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation (DoFSC).
“With the aim to greatly benefit the people, the greenery around Ring Road will contribute towards an improved environmental quality across the community. The project will cover approximately an area of 10.2 kilometers,” stated the company.
Under this initiative, Ncell has already begun landscaping and building the green belt area. The project began in November with the completion of the Balkhu-Ekantakuna stretch as a pilot phase already.
The project aims to transform this segment into an exemplary green belt area fostering the clean and green Ring Road. The company has also supported the plantation of trees in this stretch. Ncell will also ensure the maintenance of the green belt stretch and take care of more than 6,000 trees for 5 years long-term stewardship.
Andy Chong, Chief Executive Officer of Ncell, sharing this excitement said, “Ncell’s collaboration with Department of Forest and Soil Conservation represents a major change in the way organizations can create impact by working together. Our partnership with the DoFSC to roll out the 10.2 km Greening of Ring Road initiative provides a great example of a public-private partnership.”
Chong opined that this greening initiative will contribute to a healthy environment for the community as a whole and support to deliver Ncell’s climate action goals. “Greening of Ring Road is one of our efforts to address climate change, along with the need to reduce carbon footprint. Furthermore, we aim to contribute towards more sustainable projects that can create larger long-term impacts countrywide,” he added.
Man Bahadur Khadka, Director General of the DoFSC said, “It remains the government’s broader priority to drive and promote greening the environment across the country. We are pleased to collaborate with Ncell in coordination with two municipalities for this exemplary project for the greenery development and maintenance of Ring Road’s green belt for the next 5 years.”
The majority stretch of the Koteshwor-Kalanki section of the Ring Road falls under Lalitpur district. Welcoming the collaboration of DoFSC and Ncell in this project, ChiriBabu Maharjan, Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City said, “Lalitpur Metropolitan City is ready to extend any support required for successful implementation of the project as it contributes significantly towards our Green and Blue Campaign aimed at greenery development and environment projection.”
As a responsible corporate citizen, Ncell has been placing top priority on climate action and the environment apart from education and health sector to contribute the government towards achieving environment goals under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Environment is also one of the CSR areas defined by the government in the Industrial Enterprise Regulations for taking up social projects.
Ncell is also implementing a separate project to build a green park at the heart of Kathmandu. Previously, the company had supported reforestation by planting 50,000 trees in 33 hectares of barren areas of Dhanushadham Protected Forest (DPF) and implemented environmental awareness programme in Dhanusha, contributing to awareness and conservation of the environment.
After the implementation of this project, DPF was declared as ‘Illicit Felling and Open Grazing Free Zone’ by the government for the conservation and development of the forest.