Film city construction left in limbo in lack of budget

By Baburam Sharma,Dolakha, Nov. 28:The construction of the much-talked-about film city at Dangdunge in Bhimeshwor Municipality-9 of Dolakha district has been left in limbo.

Mayor of Bhimeshwor Municipality Ishwar Narayan Manandhar informed that the construction of the film city had been halted as the Federal and Bagmati Provincial governments did not allocate any budget for the project in the current fiscal year.

This year, the Federal government has allocated a budget of Rs.4 million only for study, research, and monitoring.

The film city construction has been stalled due to the lack of interest of the concerned bodies, the mayor added. 

According to the Bhimeshwor Municipality’s Infrastructure Development and Environment Management Chief Engineer Suresh Raut, the construction of the film city was suspended a decade ago. He said an information centre, two guest houses and the entrance gate were built last year after the Bagmati Province government allocated a budget of Rs. 30 million,  said Raut. 

“The three-story information centre has two floors. Structures of two guest houses, a compound wall, stairs and entrance have been prepared. If additional Rs. 10 million is made available, these works will be completed,” he added.

The concerned agencies have also been requested to hand over the responsibility of the construction work to the municipality, he added. 

Raut said that if the constructed structures are not properly managed, they would need repair soon.

Stating that the budget was not allocated this year, Raut said, “If this situation persists, there is suspicion over the completion of the international-level film city project.”

Even though all nine local levels have demanded through an interactive programme that the government should advance this international-level project as a pride project, it does not seem that there has been much hearing from the Federal and the  Provincial governments.

Senior artist Madan Das Shrestha complained about the delayed construction and said that the government has already constructed infrastructure including a six-and-a-half-kilometre long two-lane road, foot trail and drains in the Film City area at a cost of Rs. 124.45 million.

Water and electricity have been arranged at a cost of Rs. 10 million, Shrestha added.

Informing that Simeca Wim JV has prepared a master plan for the construction of the film city at a cost of around Rs. 5 billion, said Shrestha.

The proposed film city is located at an altitude of 3,400 metres above sea level in Dangdunge. It will cover an area of 76.25 hectares. 

According to the master plan, if the structure is added according to the pressure and number of films, the construction cost will reach Rs. 15 billion.

According to the master plan, the film city will have an administrative building with accommodation, an indoor shooting studio, a post-production unit, a monumental avenue, a guest house, thematic villages of different castes, a helipad and a pond in an area of about 75 ropanis of land. 

Parking, a five-star hotel, a training center and outdoor shooting are proposed in the project.

Along with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Technical Feasibility Study (TFS) and Detailed Project Report (DPR), the government has already spent more than 17.45 million rupees on the film city.

Actor Shrestha has urged the government to complete the construction by allocating additional budget as soon as possible as it is the responsibility and ownership of the government.