Kathmandu / Marking Ncell’s 18th Anniversary with an initiative focusing towards promoting clean and green city, Ncell Axiata Limited in collaboration with the Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) has contributed in further greening of the Kathmandu Valley by planting trees along the Bagmati Corridor Road in Ward 1 of LMC.
This greening initiative will contribute to a healthy environment for the community as a whole and support to deliver Ncell’s climate action goals as well as contributes the government and city to achieve SDGs on the environment front. Living to the brand promise under the theme 'Here for You', Ncell truly believes in focusing and living by the principle that it is Here for the Nepali society and community furthermore contributing towards more sustainable projects that can create larger long-term impacts countrywide.
Jabbor Kayumov, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Ncell, and Chiri Babu Maharjan, Mayor of LMC, on Thursday, planted trees jointly amid a function.
Over 200 trees have been planted along both sides of the Bagmati Corridor Road in Ward 1 of the LMC under the Ncell’s anniversary theme ‘Here for You’ in line with the company brand promise ‘Today. Tomorrow. Together.’ As Ncell embarks on its new journey, ‘Here for You’ expresses the company’s long-term commitment to Nepal and Nepali people.
Addressing the tree plantation programme, Jabbor Kayumov, CEO and MD of Ncell said, “I am of the belief that there are 3 important things in our lives, i) build a house, ii) raise a child and iii) plant a tree. I am personally privileged and honoured to be a part this great initiative of a cleaner greener city. I hope these trees will have a very long life, contributing towards healthier environment of our beautiful city of Kathmandu Valley. Ncell is a responsible operator when it comes to giving back to society and we are happy to collaborate with Lalitpur Metropolitan City for this project further strengthening our bond with it. We are proudly dedicated to our goal of nurturing the nature.” He said that Ncell has always accorded highest priority to environment/climate action under Ncell’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as part of our Net-Zero carbon commitments by 2050 and Environment, Society, and Governance (ESG) Framework of the Axiata Group.
LMC Mayor Maharjan said that LMC has been collaborating with Ncell for social responsibility initiative for the last two years. “I thank Ncell on behalf of LMC and our Ward 1 for this tree plantation. We are very happy to continue our collaboration with Ncell for this tree plantation in Bagmati Corridor and also, we remain committed to extending other necessary support for such good causes.”
In collaboration with the Department of Foreign and Soil Conservation (DoFSC) and LMC, Ncell has been taking responsibility for building and maintaining greenery in the Green Belt area of the Ring Road.
In alignment with the theme 'Here for You', several other activities and events are planned as a part of extended anniversary celebrations. These include Health Camps in areas with low human development indices, blood donation drives, friendly football matches at Lainchaur Ground, visits by celebrities to Ncell Centres to interact with customers, among other events.
Ncell has been placing top priority on climate action and the environment apart from the education and health sector to contributing to the government towards achieving environmental goals under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Environment is also one of the CSR areas defined by the government in the Industrial Enterprise Rules 2019 for taking up social projects.
Ncell has made a significant investment of more than NPR 1.80 billion in various social projects, contributing to the socio-economic development since its inception in sectors including areas like Health, Education and Environment, Disaster Preparedness and Response, and Livelihood Support among others with a primary focus on three main areas—Health, Education and Environment as core areas.