It may take two more years to complete

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 7: Almost 70 per cent outer construction of the new federal parliament building in Singha Durbar has been completed till date and the internal works are underway. Rojnath Pandey, Secretary of Parliament Secretariat, said that interior works were underway in full swing now. 

“Construction may take some two years to complete,” he said, adding that the secretariat was busy arranging offices for the parliamentary parties as the session of the parliament is about to begin after the Election Commission submits its final report of November 20 elections to the President. According to Pandey, the session would continue in the same place in New Baneshwor. 

Before the parliament session started in a rented building in Baneshwor, the session used to be continuous in Gallery Hall in Singha Durbar. The old Gallery building was badly damaged in the devastating earthquake in 2015. 

Several historic meetings of the parliament were held in dilapidated Gallery hall in Singha Durbar. And after installation of federalism, the number of the MPs increased on the one hand and the quake damaged the building on the other which was the reason it shifted to a rented building in Baneshwor. 

On September 3, 2019, SHEC and Tundi, a joint venture of Chinese and Nepalese companies, had signed an agreement to construct the building with advanced facilities in three years. However, construction date has been extended as restrictions were imposed in the country due to the outbreak of COVID-19. 

“Lockdown badly affected the work and the deadline for construction was extended,” Pandey said. However, the construction company worked well arranging the workers stay at the construction site. Even when the rate of coronavirus infection was high, the company continued the construction work by taking responsibility for the health care of the workers.

A contract was signed for the construction of the parliament building for Rs. 5.2 billion excluding VAT. For now, the parliament is functioning by renting the Birendra International Conference Centre at Naya Baneshwor. It will be moved to the new building after the construction gets completed. 

Himal KC, Assistant Director of the parliament building project and Senior Civil Engineer, said that the new parliament building covers about 151 ropanis in the north-eastern part of Singha Durbar where there will be 12 buildings including Federal Parliament Building, National Assembly Building, VVIP Building and Centre Lobby. Trees will be planted in the buffer zone and on the wide road to the north. He also said that there will be four gates to enter this building complex.