Trichandra, Ghantaghar to be renovated

Kathmandu, July 26: Trichandra College, the oldest campus in the country, and its clock tower (Ghantaghar) are all set to be retrofitted in its original shape to reflect their historical significance. 

Central Level Project Implementation Unit (CLPIU), Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, Ministry of Urban Development have allocated Rs. 500 million for the projects.

Kosh Nath Adhikari, project director of CLPIU, said that the Ministry of Finance has approved resource management proposal of the office and now consultant agency has been working to redesign the structure prepared three years ago. 

Initially, Rs. 500 million was estimated for this project but it will complete in less than the estimated budget, he said. 

It will take around two years to complete the project because it needs to use traditional materials, needs to find skilful workers, who are not easily found, he added.

Adhikari said that they would call a tender for the project after completing all the process. 

Other damaged structures near the oldest college - Ranipokhari and Durbar High School - had already been reconstructed but Trichandra College was not in priority even seven years after the Gorkha earthquake, said Sunil Adhikari, chief of Trichandra College. 

He said that a team of engineers with project director of CLPIU had visited the college a month ago. 

The delay in maintaining in time, the southern side of the college building had fallen down in monsoon last year. At first glance, it does not look like a college, it looks like poor abandoned building, he said. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has instructed the authorities to initiate reconstruction of the college by allocating required budget. 

The PM on Sunday had called Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel, Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University Dr. Dharmakanta Baskota, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and others and instructed them to immediately begin reconstruction work on the oldest campus of the country.

In the fiscal year 2021/22, the government had also planned to rebuild the college. 

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had also announced plans to renovate Trichandra College and Ghantaghar but it was not implemented. 

The college had suffered from major earthquakes in 1934 and 2015. The college was established in 1918 during the reign of Rana Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher.