KATHMANDU, April 19: The company awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the Dharahara tower has stated that the completion of the project will take a year more. Meanwhile, the government is in a rush to inaugurate the tower. Under the direction of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, about 300 workers are working daily from dawn to dusk to complete the project.
According to Project Manager of Raman Construction, Shyam Chandra Shrestha, although the tower is complete, finishing of the exteriors is currently underway. The Dharahara project is currently on a rush to meet the deadline as the prime minister had already announced to inaugurate the tower on April 24. However, the company is still not sure if they will be able to meet the deadline.
The Dharahara Debate
The Dharahara reconstruction project has so far completed 61 percent of the work, while 98 percent of the work on the tower’s column has been done so far. The construction company has also stated that over 2 billion and 17 million rupees of the total budget has been spent so far.
According to sources, Prime minister Oli's rush to inaugurate the tower has been speculated to be an effort to save his collapsing government. The prime minister had previously inaugurated the newly-rebuilt Rani Pokhari and Durbar High School where he had announced that the Dharahara tower has been completed.
"The reconstruction work has been expedited because the instructions came from the top level," the source said. The completion of the two stories of the Dharahara tower concluded on Monday. The pinnacle has also been placed at the top of the tower along with the elevators which are ready for use.
The reconstruction project of the Dharahara tower which was turned into rubble by the massive earthquake of April 2015, could not proceed for two years due to various reasons.When the work began, the construction company failed to complete the project in the scheduled time. Currently, the work is being done by extending the deadline.
