Kathmandu, October 18: The District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu has prohibited gatherings, demonstrations, sit-ins, and rallies in various parts of the capital for the next two months.

According to an order issued on Friday by Chief District Officer (CDO) Ishwar Raj Paudel, gatherings of more than five people have been banned. The order states that protest programs could lead to unruly or undesirable incidents such as vandalism, arson, clashes, and public disorder.

Citing Sub-section 3 (a) of Section 6 of the Local Administration Act, 2028 (1971), the order enforces a ban on assemblies and protest programs—including hunger strikes, sit-ins, encirclements, rallies, demonstrations, and public meetings—in and around Sheetal Niwas (the Office of the President) and several other sensitive areas, effective from today for a period of two months.

The restricted zones include areas up to the junction in front of the National Police Training Academy, 100 meters south of the Samakhushi turn, and from the Samakhushi turn southwest up to the Samakhushi River.

Similarly, gatherings and demonstrations are prohibited around Harit Griha (Vice President’s Office) in Lainchaur, and in the Narayanhiti Palace Museum area, stretching from Keshar Mahal Chowk to Lainchaur junction up to the boundary of Hotel Malla.

The ban also covers the stretch from Keshar Mahal Chowk to Narayanhiti Palace Museum’s southern gate up to Jai Nepal junction, and from the southern gate of the museum up to the Mahendra statue.

In the Singha Durbar area, assemblies and demonstrations have been banned from the eastern corner of Badrakali Temple (Thapathali island) up to the main gate of Singha Durbar, and from the main gate northward up to Padmodaya Secondary School junction.

The restrictions further extend from Padmodaya junction eastward toward the Office of the Auditor General and Anamnagar, from the northeast corner of Singha Durbar via its eastern gate to Hanumansthan Temple, and from the main gate southward via the Supreme Court up to the Department of Archaeology junction. The area from the Department of Archaeology junction to Singha Durbar’s southern gate via Hanumansthan Temple is also restricted.

Likewise, the ban applies from the eastern junction of the District Court to the northern junction of the District Administration Office, as well as in the vicinity of the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar.

According to the order, gatherings and demonstrations are also prohibited around the residences of the Chairperson of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, and the Chief Justice, along with a 100-meter section of the road east of the Nepal Rastra Bank intersection.

The prohibition order is believed to have been issued after pro-monarchy groups announced a protest program for October 18 at Samakhushi Chowk.

People’s News Monitoring Service.