By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 6: Reconstruction of the 17th of the 22-floor Dharahara has completed and work on the 18th floor is in progress.
Along with the tower, construction of other structures like triple basement, four-storey museum and conservation of Sundhara water spout has also been going together, Raju Man Manandhar, an expert of the European Union Technical Support under the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), said.
Foundation work of the museum has begun and around 50 per cent work of triple basement has been completed, he added.
The construction of new Dharahara was begun on October 7, 2018 by Nepal-China joint venture companies.
The project spreads in 42.2 ropanis of land after the land occupied by the Department of Mint and southern part of Kathmandu Mall was acquired.
About 44 per cent physical work of the project has been completed spending around Rs. 1.18 billion, said Manandhar.
The conservation task of Sundhara water spout will start in some days. The NRA is going to renovate the spout and bring water back to it.
Around Rs. 1.2 million is estimated for manufacturing, supplying, fixing and finishing gold plated bronze casing for the existing Sundhara.
Water source of Sundhara spout was damaged during the construction of the Kathmandu Mall and its outlet supply channel has also been damaged while building the structures of the Sundhara-based hotels.
The challenge of NRA is to bring back water and open new outlet channel, he said. “We have to dig a 23-ft deep channel from Sundhara to Tripureshwor to let the water out from the spout.”
The NRA has not yet started preservation task for the remains of old Dharahara. It has planned to keep it inside a glass case. It needs to repair cracked walls through retrofitting method before keeping it inside the glass case.
Retrofitting task of the remains of the fallen Dharahara has not begun. Construction of new Dharahara and other structures is important. So, preservation task of the remains of old Dharahara will start at the end, he added.
The height of new tower of Dharahara is 79.2 metres including the dome and pinnacle. Bhimsen Thapa, the first Prime Minister of modern Nepal, had built the tower in 1832. The 9-storey structure had 213 steps in its spiral staircase to the top and a balcony on the seventh storey.
The new Dharahara Tower will have 22 storeys from inside and 11 storeys from outside. It will have two elevators and staircases inside it.