By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 18: Retrofitting has breathed new life into the 117-year-old Singha Durbar.
The administrative centre of the federal government, which was badly damaged by the 2015 earthquake, has reopened after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inaugurated it on Monday. So, the government’s secretariat has shifted back to the building.
The neo-classical palace houses Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Defence and the National Planning Commission, among others. National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) carried out the task of retrofitting the building.
According to the NRA, the east, north and south wings of Singha Durbar were retrofitted using modern construction materials such as reinforced cement concrete, structural steel, and bonding chemicals like epoxy. The wings have also been jacketed on both sides with concrete and have been anchored with steel to make them resistant to future earthquakes.
Modern amenities like Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP), Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and CCTV cameras have also been installed. Landscaping has also been done to beautify the garden and the surrounding areas.
“The addition of these facilities will hopefully create a positive environment and increase the morale of the employees working in the building,” the NRA stated in an informative pamphlet provided to The Rising Nepal. But the Authority stressed that regardless of the changes made, the original structure of the five-storeyed palace remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, the western face of Singha Durbar was retrofitted using the original Rana-era materials and techniques. Only age-appropriate wood, metal and Chuna-Surki plaster have been used, the NRA stated.
The western part was not ‘modernised’ because it was the only remaining part of the original Singha Durbar constructed by Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana. The other three sides had burnt down in the fire of 1980 and had been reconstructed then. The west wing had never been demolished or destroyed and had always been conserved.
Work on the east, north and south wings has finished and the parts have been fully furnished while work on the west wing is only half complete.
As per the information provided by NRA, the retrofitting of the three sections was done in two phases at a cost Rs. 870 million (without VAT) and work on the western section started on October 14, 2019 and will complete on October 12, 2021 at a cost of Rs. 468.8 million (without VAT).