The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has initiated an eighteen-month ‘Healthy City Programme’ to enforce the country's ban on smoking and consuming tobacco products in public places, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Bidhya Sundhar Shakya, the KMC mayor, was quoted as saying, “There will be no compromise in implementing this drive.
“In a bid to control its [tobacco’s] massive use, the government has made it expensive. Government makes a good income through it. But public are paying higher amount for their treatment.”
Shakya reportedly said that the programme would relay the message to the public that smoking and consuming tobacco products in public places would be punishable by law.
Nepal’s Tobacco Product (Control and Regulation) Act of 2011, which has banned smoking in public places such as parks, libraries, airports and restaurants, has for the most part become ineffective, the Kathmandu Post reported.
In an effort to enforce the law, the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu fined nearly 1,000 people for breaching the law in February 2016. This crusade to enforce the ban by authorities, however, was not effective for long thereafter, the Kathmandu Post reported.
Upon reporting about the new campaign, the KMC officials said that the city would make the current city health campaign more effective.
Hari Kumar Shrestha, KMC public health department chief, said that the campaign would include a committee of 15-16 people who would led a door-to-door awareness programme.
“If effectively implemented, the KMC will be the 50th city in the world to implement Healthy Cities Programme,” the Kathmandu Post reported.