KATHMANDU, June 2: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) office is all set to organize a grand cleanup campaign in all 35 wards of Kathmandu on Wednesday, to mark the Sithi Nakha, a festival of Newar community.

The KMC office, in coordination with more than 300 youth clubs, schools and other groups, is going to organize the one-day cleanup campaign. Sithi Nakha is known as the festival of cleaning water sources including ponds, rivers, stone spouts, and wells.

Dhana Bahadur Shresha, chief of KMC office, said they have requested the members of the public to come out and participate in the one-day cleanup campaign. Similarly, the participants have also been requested to bring along face mask and gloves. Shrestha said due to lack of funds, they could not provide masks and gloves this year.

"We have decided to celebrate this festival (Sithi Nakha) and we want all city residents to participate in it," said Shrestha. Hari Kunwar, chief of Environment Department at the KMC office, they have been collecting 300 to 400 tons of garbage on an afrom the city every day. However, on Wednesday, they aim to collect 1000 tons.

"We have also planned to reward three cleanest wards in Kathmandu," said Kunwar. "Though, we have not fixed the reward amount, we will reward three wards." According to him, the office will also deploy a monitoring team in each ward to inspect the cleanup work.