PMO officials informed myrepublica.com that they would decide whom to punish and also the nature of the punishment after receiving the investigation report from NVC, an anti-graft body under PMO. [break]
On Thursday, some initial information emerged from the government regarding cracks in the building.
Early in the morning, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Planning and Works Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar went to Bhattarai´s residence along with the secretaries at his ministry and officials from the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DoUDBC) to inspect the damage.
Gachchhadar also took along Sushil Babu Shrestha, the contractor who constructed the building, and warned him not to leave the site until safety measures were ensured.
DoUDBC Director General Ashok Uprety said that nearly Rs 26 million has already been spent on the building construction.
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"To our observation there is defect in the construction," admitted Uprety, adding, "Our officials who had been overseeing the project are also morally responsible for this." Officials indicated that overuse of sand and skimping on cement was the cause of the problem.
The government had built the one-story house for Bhattarai at Badegaun, Lalitpur, some 15 km from Kathmandu, two years ago. Bhattarai moved in one and half years ago.
Deep Basnet, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW), said they have taken the incident very seriously and won´t leave any stone unturned.
"Given the seriousness of the incident, we have formed a probe committee led by Joint-Secretary Suresh Acharya to investigate what exactly happened," he told myrepublica.com, adding, "We will decide whom to punish after receiving an investigation report." The committee has to submit its report within seven days.
"I inspected the site along with our minister and DoUDBC officials and I am really not satisfied with the construction and what I saw inside and outside the building," Basnet divulged, adding, "Those found responsible would be suspended and punished as per the law, upon completion of investigations."
The government-built house caved in following continuous rain for the past few days. The front yard of the main building caved in at many points. With the cave-in, the compound wall built some four months ago collapsed. All four corners of the house have also subsided. Water leaks in all the rooms of the main building including the kitchen.
According to officials at MoPPW, both the contractor and staff from DoUDBC, who have been overseeing the site, failed to maintain quality while constructing the building.
"My surmise is that the contractor and government staff responsible failed to maintain quality as per the agreement. Those overseeing the project must be held liable, " MoPPW Spokesperson Raj Kumar Malla told myrepublica.com.
According to a knowledgeable source at MoPPW, Division Chief under DoUDBC Suraj Rajkarnikar is responsible for the problem as he was for long overseeing the construction. "Rajkarnikar has political protection," the source said, adding, "No strong action can be expected unless the political protection ends."
Contractors also admitted shortcomings in construction. "There was a little shortcoming from our end," admitted Nava Raj Dhungana, staffer for contractor Shrestha, adding, "But we are less responsible as we did as per the map given us by DoUDBC officials."
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