Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The construction of a new Parliament building in Singha Durbar has reached the final stage.
According to Roshan Shrestha, deputy director general of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, most of the building work has been completed and some technical work is still to be done.
According to Shrestha, as per the preliminary plan, the work of false ceiling in the main hall of the House of Representatives was to be completed by February 27-29 and then preparations were made to lay the carpet, cable the microphone and audio-video system and install the required furniture. He, however, said that the work could not be completed on time due to technical complexities.
“There were some technical problems in the work of false ceiling in the main hall of the House of Representatives. As a result, the work could not progress at the expected pace. Therefore, it will take about 10-12 days to complete the main hall. ’
Alternative arrangements will be made for the time being as it will take some time to prepare the main hall. According to Shrestha, preparations have been made to temporarily hold the meeting of the House of Representatives.
“We have now rebuilt another hall inside the same building to host the House of Representatives,” he said. Almost all preparations have been completed. The hall will be ready within two to three days and it will be ready and handed over to the Parliament Secretariat. ’
This alternative hall will have all the necessary infrastructure for the House of Representatives. The swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected lawmakers can be conducted here and arrangements will be made to conduct the meeting of the House of Representatives if necessary.
The meeting of the National Assembly is being held at the old hall of the Agriculture Committee on the premises of Singha Durbar.
According to Shrestha, the structure that was supposed to be handed over to the Parliament Secretariat on March 1 is not the entire parliament building. “We are not saying that we will hand over the entire building. The plan is to hand over only the hall that can be used to conduct the House of Representatives on that date. ’
According to him, the construction of the parliament building is moving ahead at a rapid pace. Around 380 to 410 workers are working in three shifts 24 hours a day. The technical staff of the department are also continuously monitoring the work by deputing them on site.
The construction work of the entire building is expected to be completed within one and half months, he shared.
Shrestha said, “The construction work has been intensified in the last two months. The technical team and workers are working continuously in three shifts. In this way, we estimate that the entire building will be completed within one to one and a half months. ’
He said there were several reasons for the delay in the construction of the parliament building. Before the construction started, there was a Chandi Dal battalion of the Nepal Army and another army unit at that place, so they had to be relocated. He said that it took time to relocate the army in an orderly manner by building the necessary structures in the new place.
The construction work that started after that was affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Shrestha said that the construction work has been halted for some time due to the lockdown and other restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
Likewise, he said that the work has been affected due to the lack of timely availability of some special materials to be used in the parliament building from abroad. “Some of the works had to be halted due to the lack of timely arrival of the materials to be brought from abroad and that was beyond our control. ’
He said that various political and social movements have also affected the construction work during the construction period.
According to him, even if the agitation lasts only for one or two days, its impact can be felt for around 10-12 days in the construction work. However, he made it clear that the cost of the project will not increase even if the time is extended.
According to Shrestha, the civil construction of the parliament building is estimated to cost around Rs 5.50 billion to Rs 600 million, while an additional Rs 2.34 billion will be spent for the interior construction.
“There is no additional financial burden,” he said. It took a little bit longer in terms of time, but the amount we contracted at the beginning is there. Contracts don’t increase in cost. The construction work will be completed within the contracted cost. Just because it takes more time does not mean that the state will have to bear more money. The cost is around Rs 5.50-60 crore, of which the other Rs 2.34 billion is for the interior, so much so that the building will be completed within this cost. ’
With the construction of the new parliament building in more than 150 ropanis of land, all the activities of the federal parliament will be operated from this new structure.
Earlier, the International Convention Centre (ICC) was used for conducting parliament meetings, but it was mainly a structure built for conferences and other programmes. The same building was temporarily used for parliament meetings after the number of lawmakers increased after the Constituent Assembly elections. Now, the building will be developed as a convention center.
With the completion of the new Parliament building, all the activities of the parliament would be conducted from there and all the infrastructures required for the parliament would be available within a single precinct.
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