Such moves can deface the town, made it more vulnerable to natural disaster, and lead to a huge loss in revenue collection, complain officials at the municipal office.
There is a provision in the Local Self Governance Act, 2055, that any individual or institution seeking to construct a new building or change the existing structure should seek permission from chief of the concerned municipality. [break]
The permission includes compliance with the National Building Code-2060 and other criteria stipulated in the Building Act-2055 “The municipal office charges between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 for approving maps and designs of each governmental building. But the majority of the government authorities in the district have constructed buildings without our approval,” complained Hariram Nagila, executive officer at the municipality office.
He added that the Division Office of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, which is responsible to construct governmental buildings, has itself been flouting the law.
As of now, just two government offices -- Agriculture Development Bank and Nepal Telecom-- in the municipality areas have sought such permission.
Though the government authorities such as the District Administration Office, District Health Office, District Hospital, District Forest Office, District Development Committee and District Prison, among others have constructed several buildings over the recent months, none of the authorities has duly obtained approval from the municipality.
Likewise, more than half a dozen public school buildings have been either restructured or constructed in the municipality area recently, but they too have violated the legal provision.
On the other hand, the municipal office, too, does not have any record of the government buildings. “Hence, we don´t know whether these government offices are following the safety standards,” said Khagendra Dhakal, a technical officer at the municipal office.
However, Sushil Kumar Bastakoti, an engineer at the Division Office of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, said all of the recently built governmental buildings have followed the building code.
“As the construction of the remaining government buildings in the municipality district get completed, we will go and approve the building maps of all the buildings that are yet to be approved,” he added.
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