Data provided by the department shows that 5,400 government buildings were destroyed during the conflict. [break]
Various units under the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction have also been involved in the reconstruction of government buildings. However, the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction is yet to reconstruct an additional 104 buildings, as it is required to do.
The department is responsible only for the reconstruction of major government buildings.
“We have already reconstructed more than 332 government buildings that were destroyed during the conflict and we plan to complete reconstruction of the remaining buildings very soon,” said Senior Divisional Engineer Chatur Raj Prasai.
In fiscal year 2010/11, the department completed reconstruction work on four court buildings, 17 jails, 20 land revenue offices, 15 forest and soil conservation office buildings, 15 district administration offices, seven buildings under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, three historic palaces, six government attorney offices, three women´s development office buildings, two buildings under the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management, four district education offices, four customs offices and 12 various other buildings.
Prasai informed that they have been reconstructing the buildings as per current requirements and the budget amount allocated while the three historic palaces in Palpa, Dailekh and Mangalsel have been restored with the help of old pictures.
“We encouraged the use of local materials as building materials become very expensive in many districts,” he said.
The department has incurred a total expenditure of Rs. 57.38 million as part of the reconstruction of government buildings nationwide.
The government had allocated Rs. 1.58 billion as of fiscal year 2010/11. The Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction initiated the task of reconstruction soon after the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) was signed.
“We had many problems during the reconstruction of jails as transferring the inmates to other locations during the reconstruction work was a hectic affair,” he informed, adding, “The issue of land at local level has also been one of the major problems.”
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