30 per cent of reconstruction of Dharahara completes

Kathmandu / Nov 28: Approximately 30 per cent of the reconstruction of the Dharahara Tower has completed around one year of reconstruction.

After more than three years of the destruction of the tower by the devastating earthquake of 2015, its reconstruction began following the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on December 27 last year. The completion deadline for the Rs 3.4 billion project is two years.

On the occasion, PM Oli had directed the reconstruction of the tower aesthetically similar to the old tower from modern materials using latest earthquake-resilient technology.

The 11-storey new tower covering an area of 22 Ropani will be approximately 294 feet tall with two elevators. The ruined base of the original Dharahara will be preserved as a memorial to those killed in the earthquake.

Plastering the second floor is underway, while reconstruction under the tower has been completed. Over 150 workers, Nepalis and Indian, have been working on the project.

Heritage expert Raju Man Manandhar, who works for the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), claimed that the project will be completed by the deadline. To complete the project on time, 50 per cent of the reconstruction should be over in the next two months, and reconstructions have been accelerated accordingly, claimed the NRA.

The new senior citizen and children-friendly tower will have various facilities like a park, a museum, a water fountain, an exhibition hall, shops, restaurants, a library and a parking lot.

The tower had been built by the first prime minister of Nepal Bhimsen Thapa in 1825. The tower was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1934 and was later reconstructed. RSS