Risky NSU building being demolished

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 6:The liaison office of Nepal Sanskrit University (NSU) has long been standing with support of several logs to the south of Hanuman Dhoka Durbar since the 2015 earthquake. It has not only posed threat to people walking nearby, vendors and shopkeepers, but also is an eyesore for tourists visiting the World Heritage Site (WHS). 

Due to negligence on the part of relevant institutions and stakeholders, the rickety four-and-a-half-storey white building in the WHS has not been demolished even 10 years after the massive earthquake that killed over 9,000 people and destroyed several private houses and important monuments including the nine-storey Hanumandhoka palace. The palace has been reconstructed but the NSU building remains in a risky state as it was rendered by the 2015 April 25 quake. 

However, after a prolonged wait, efforts led by Macharaja Maharjan, Ward Chairperson of Ward No. 23 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), along with local organisations, finally prompted a process to demolish the risky building from last month. 

The demolition began with the active participation of the locals as the Tribhuvan University (TU) remained indifferent to pulling the risky structure down for about a decade.

The building erected on an area of 4 annas and 1 paisa, is registered under TU’s name. However, who built the structure and when could not be traced. 

The liaison office of the NSU, formerly Mahendra Sanskrit University, had been using it since the 1980s.  

Ward chairperson Maharajan said that there is no information as to who built the structure and when, but based on the materials used and the architectural style, it appears to have been built during the Rana regime.  

He also mentioned that there was a house of living gods of Ganesh and Bhairav, similar to nearby Kumari Ghar in the current building area.

The 13th executive meeting of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) held on February 23, 2023 had formed a committee under the coordination of Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol to study its demolition and reconstruction. Chairperson of Ward No. 8 and Coordinator of Heritage Committee Ashaman Sangat and Chairperson of Ward No. 23 Macharaja Maharjan were members of the committee. 

Several attempts were made to decide the fate of the building but in vain. Demolishing the structure became problematic. 

Before the ratification of the NSU Act in 1986, the building was under the ownership of Tribhuvan University (TU). After the enactment of the law, TU handed over the building to the newly-established NSU, which has its central office in Beljhundi, Dang, Lumbini, to use as its liaison office in Kathmandu and a research centre. 

After the earthquake caused extensive damage to the building, NSU shifted from here but shirked responsibility to clear the damaged structure. 

Locals and ward representatives had been making efforts to demolish the damaged building. A year ago, the locals organised a signature campaign pressuring authorities to demolish the building after TU showed no concern over its removal.

Kumari Rai, Chief of Heritage and Tourism Department of KMC, said the demolition had begun as the structure could collapse at any time. The locals had repeatedly pressed for the demolition of the building and the Metropolitan Police has now initiated the demolition process. 

Ganapati Lal Shrestha, a local, expressed frustration saying both the KMC and TU had ignored the problems faced by locals because of the rickety building standing at a WHS. KMC-23 Chairperson Maharjan said it is uncertain what structure will be built on the land owned by TU. Our priority is to demolish the risky building. 

He also stated that locals have started advocating for the construction of a residence for Bhairav and Ganesh at the site.

"We have demanded for the construction of a building to accommodate the two homeless deities.  Locals are now preparing to exert pressure to construct the house of the deities as there is a problem in Indra Jatra due to the failure to construct the building of the two gods,” Shrestha said.  Recently, TU has handed over the ownership of the land to Lalit Kala Campus, he added.