Ban sale of liquor at heritage sites

Bhaktapur: Sale of alcohol is rife around Bhaktapur’s heritage sites, including the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, which features on the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites’ list.

Although the Heritage Preservation Act and Local Autonomy Act bar the sale of alcoholic products in and around heritage sites, the illegal act continues, thanks to indifference on the part of government authorities.

The Bhaktapur Durbar Caretaker’s Office under the Department of Archeology conceded that the sale of alcohol is rampant around the heritage sites, including sattals and patis (public resting places) adding that it has been unable to curb this trade. The office, Guthi Sansthan and the Department of Archaeology have rented heritage sites to private parties for the sake of their preservation. On their part, the private parties, too, have failed to control the sale of liquor in these places.

Executive Officer at Bhaktapur Municipality, Rammani Bhattarai, admitted that they have failed to rein in the sale of alcohol around heritage sites. Locals complained that the Bhaktapur District Administration Office has remained a mute spectator even when the sale of alcohol continues unabated on the premises of heritage sites.

Culture experts and historians have demanded that authorities concerned do the needful to curb the use of alcohol in and around heritage sites.

source: the himalayan tims, 13 July 2013