By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec. 16: Construction of the new Dharahara is moving ahead steadily amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work on the 20th floor of the tower is currently underway. Construction of other structures like the triple basement and the four-storey museum are also moving ahead simultaneously, Raju Man Manandhar, an expert with the European Union Technical Support under the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), said.
“Works on the museum’s foundation and around 50 per cent of the triple basement have been completed,” he added.
Construction of the 22-storey Dharahara had begun on October 7, 2018. The tower and its compound will cover an area of 42.2 ropanis, including land formerly occupied by the Department of Mint and the southern part of Kathmandu Mall.
Conservation tasks for the historic Sundhara water spout will also begin in a few days. The NRA plans to renovate the spout and have it flowing again.
Construction of the nearby Kathmandu Mall had damaged the inlet channel of Sundhara, causing it to go dry. Construction of various hotels in and around the area has also damaged its outlet.
“We will have to dig a 23-feet deep channel from Sundhara to Tripureshwor to drain the water from the spout,” Manandhar said. The entire manufacturing, renovating and finishing processes for the gold-plated bronze casing of the conduit will cost around Rs. 1.2 million.
The NRA is further seeking to repair the cracked walls of the remains of the old Dharahara and retrofit them. Then, it wants to encase the whole structure inside glass. However, it has not yet started this task, claiming that the construction of the new Dharahara and related structures was more important.
“Preservation works of the old Dharahara will start after completing the construction works,” Manandhar informed. The new tower of Dharahara will be 79.2 metres tall, including its dome and pinnacle. Bhimsen Thapa, the first Prime Minister of modern Nepal, had built the original tower in 1832.
Before the 2015 earthquake, the all-white Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Stambha, had nine storeys, a spiral staircase with 213 steps and a balcony on the seventh storey.
The new structure will have 22 storeys but will appear only 11-storey tall from the outside. It will have two elevators along with a staircase to climb to the top.