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Municipal GIS for Resource Mapping and Planning: A case study from Byass municipal area, Nepal
4. Demography
According to the 2058 census, the total population of Byass municipality is 28,443. In which the number of male population (13,546) is slightly smaller than the number of female population (14,897). With a total of 5,039 households and 6,603 family numbers, the population density of the municipality is 400 per km2. 5. Physical infrastructure Physical infrastructure plays an important role in planned urban development. It is a visual indicator to measure a city's amenities. It covers mainly road, water supply, electricity and telecommunication networks. A short description of major infrastructure network has been given below: 5.1 Road network: The road networks are largely developed in the municipality area and most of the roads are worthy for vehicular traffic even though they are earthen. The Prithvi Rajmarg passes through the municipality acting as a ward boundary separating wards 2, 10 and 11. The road networks in ward no. 2 and 10 are well managed in grid street pattern totaling in length to only about 4 kms from the high way. 5.2 Electricity network: Most part of the municipality does have access to electricity network. In addition, 132 KVA and 32 KVA transmission lines also pass through the municipality. 5.3 Telephone network: The telephone facility is available in core town area as well as other parts of the municipality. 5.4 Waste Management Apart from above-mentioned infrastructure, a municipality initiated waste management system does not seem to be in place. Nevertheless, the town looks by and large tidy as communities themselves engage in waste disposal initiatives. 5.5 Education There are 28 educational institutions within the municipality. 25 of them are schools and 3 of them are colleges. Among the colleges, Aadikabi BhanuBhakta College is a multiple campus and was financed in part by the Lions Club. Each of the wards does at least have 2 schools. There are 5 schools in ward no. 1. As for the access to basic educational facilities, no ward is left behind. 5.6 Health: As regards to the provision of health services, this municipality does not have a hospital or private nursing home. Besides, there are only four health posts in ward 5, 9 and 10, and no sub-health posts. This point towards severe lack of health facilities. In case of emergency, local residents have to rush either to Kathmandu or Pokhara. Establishment of district level hospital and more health centers in the wards is the urgent need of Byass municipality. 5.7 Public Institutions: There are a number of Banks, Post offices, ward offices, Governmental and semi-governmental organizations etc in Byass municipality. There are more than 40 public institutions within the core town area. Besides ward offices, most of the Public institutions are located in ward no l, 2 and 10. 5.8 Sites of cultural importance: Byass Gufa is one of the oldest heritage sites located within Byass municipality. Byass Gufa and Parasar Ashram are situated in close proximity with each other. The backdrop of Madi Nadi and Seti River adds more aesthetic value to sites of cultural and religious importance. The number of temples within the municipality is few and the most important one is Bhagwati temple which is located in ward no. 10 - on the way of Prithvi Rajmarg. 5.9 Factory/Industries: At present Byass municipality has only one relatively big industry which is Manakamana Tanning Industry. The other industry of modest size is Shree Ram Brick Factory. 5.10 Public services: In comparison with other social infrastructure, less number of public services are available within the municipal area. These services include Bank, Post office, ward office etc. 5.11 Market Centers: There are no big market centers in Byass. But core municipal area does have fruits and vegetable market area located in Tarkari Chowk , Ghumti Chowk and Shrijana Chowk. Rural Urban Partnership Programme (RUPP) which is a UNDP supported programme with its activities in the area of urban governance and poverty alleviation, has extended support for the construction sheds in Budhabare Hat Bazar of Byass municipality where every Wednesday people from rural and urban areas come to sell and purchase agricultural as well as other products. 6. Land use according to 1996 Topographic map For the preparation of land use cover of Byass Municipality, the Topographic map of 1996 was used as the base map. In total six different land cover types have been identified. The land use map illustrates the land use pattern of Byass municipal area for 1996. The map shows that the dominant land-use class in this area is different types of agricultural land sharing major percentage of municipal land use pattern. This shows the significance of agriculture as main source of livelihood even in the area. Forest is the second predominant element of land use of Byass municipality. Major forestland seen consists of natural vegetation, dense and scattered forest areas. 
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