Chairman of ward no 5 of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ramesh Dangol in the municipal assembly in April asked KMC Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya, "Mayor Sir, it's been three years that construction of view tower started at Buspark. Nothing has been constructed there until now. What's happening there?"
Mayor Shakya replied, "Please ask Deputy Mayor. She knows about such issues."
Deputy Mayor Hari Prabha Khadgi was left speechless by that. Khadgi did not know anything about the view tower.
No discussion on the view tower being developed near her house was held almost a year after local level representatives were elected.
"I had phoned contractor Manoj Bhetwal the next day after I heard the sarcastic reply from Mayor Sir. I called him to my office," Shakya said, "I learned a few days later that he was arrested by the police."
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police on April 16 had arrested him for alleged involvement in the Apex Bank scam. Investigation has been initiated by taking him into custody.
The three-year deadline as per the agreement for the project signed on March 6, 2015 between the Jaleshwor, Swochchhanda and Bikoi Builders Pvt. Ltd. and the KMC ends in coming August. But even foundation has not yet been completed in two years. The pile of iron rods and gravel can be seen covered by metallic sheets in Old Buspark.
A guard at the gate stopped us when we tried to enter inside some days ago. He told us to ask for permission from the nearby office. But the office was closed on that day.
"Construction works have been stopped after Holi. There's no one here now," a municipal police said.
Constructing a high-rise building in Buspark was an idea conceptualized seven years ago by metropolis staffers. Two metropolis staffers had brought the plan of constructing a tower in Kathmandu after being impressed by Tokyo Tower in Japan.
"We forwarded this concept after finding it could be a medium for metropolis to earn a huge amount of money, to increase the revenue and also for the tourists who can view Kathmandu," Spokesperson at Metropolitan Gyanendra Karki said, "It's significance has increased after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake knocked down the Dharahara the only tower in the Valley."
They presented this proposal to the municipal council. The then Chief Executive Officer Ganesh Rai was one of the planners. CEO, during that time, was designated to do the works of mayor as well in lack of elected people's representatives. Mayor Shakya was the member of party mechanism during that time.
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View Tower sketch[/caption]
Meanwhile, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had issued a directive to stop the view tower construction on December 13, 2012 after receiving a complaint raising questions about necessity of the tower and violation of regulations during the bidding process among others.
The CIAA on May 7, 2013 then lifted the ban sending a letter instructing to make agreement in Nepali language, construct a building in just 40 percent of land and leave the remaining 60 percent area empty, and keep three-stories for parking including underground parking.
A complaint was then filed at the Public Accounts Committee of the parliament saying Bhetwal's company that constructed overhead bridge at Kalanki and Gongabu needs to pay money to the metropolis and it does not have necessary funds to develop it.
The initial plan was to build a 29-story building, but the project was reduced to 12 floors following the earthquake of April 2015.
Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun later laid the foundation stone on November 11, 2015 after the metropolis passed the map of 12-story building in August 2015.
The contractor, however, was told by the KMC to build a 29-story building although the metropolis passed the map of 12-story building."The current foundation has been laid for constructing a 29-story building," KMC’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit Chief Mahesh Kafle said.
"The decision taken to construct a 29-story building was taken in the beginning. However, the government changed the criteria after the earthquake," Kafle said, "What is the use of constructing just a 12-story building if it has been specifically constructed to inform tourists about Kathmandu with a facility of viewing? We should construct 24-25 stories for business and keep the stories for viewing above that for viewing. We are still for constructing a 29-story building. All concerned stakeholders have consented. Only endorsement by the Cabinet remains."
Kafle further said that the agreement was for constructing a 29-story building and the foundation has been built accordingly.
Likewise, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the tower has not yet been conducted. As per the provision in the Environment Protection Act 1996, conduction of EIA is a must while constructing a building higher than 16 stories and that occupies more than 10,000 square meters. Clause four of the act also says that construction cannot be started without EIA approval from the Environment Ministry.
The KMC is starting construction of the project that will occupy approximately 24 ropanis (12,209 square meters) of land without EIA approval.
"Almsot 80 percent of the project across the country is being constructed without EIA approval. So we're constructing the view tower without EIA approval," Kafle said.
"I've visited the ministry for ten times for EIA approval," he said, "What can we do if the government does not complete the work on time? The file is kept on hold. We went there time and again but we have not yet received the report," he tried to justify the illegal work.
Estimated cost of the view tower has now risen to Rs 5.5 billion from Rs 3 billion estimated at the beginning.
The contractor company does not have capacity of invest such a huge amount to construct view tower and no bank provides loan for the construction started without EIA approval.
Meanwhile, the KMC has also no clarity on view tower model.
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Buspark at Khullamanch (Photo: Nisha Bhandari/Setopati)[/caption]
A staffer at KMC said that the Public Private Partnership model will be followed while constructing the building and will adopt BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) model after the KMC completes the construction. "We've adopted both models to ease the contractor," he said.
"Initially, it seems we have adopted PPP model and the concept is also PPP model. But after construction of the tower, BOOT model will be adopted. It's not that we cannot make nominal changes," Kafle said.
Commuters have so far become affected due to construction of the view tower. "The KMC had shifted the bus park at the Open Air Theater initially for six months. But the Open Air Theater is being used as a bus park for almost two and a half years," KMC spokesperson Karki said.
