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16 Chait, Kathmandu. New ministers will also not be able to go to the minister’s residence being built in Bhainsepati. Since the construction was not completed in time, the new ministers had to live in the Pulchok quarter.
Now preparations are being made for cabinet expansion. And in a few days new ministers are coming.
According to the contract agreement of the first phase of Minister’s Housing, these buildings are to be completed and handed over on October 27, 2078.
But due to the pandemic, the project’s deadline was extended till next March. Thereafter, if the extended deadline had been worked out, the residence of the federal ministers could have been shifted to Bhainsepati in Kathmandu on 1 Baisakh 2079.
However, the construction of the project has been delayed by about one-and-a-half years due to not getting the work done on time. Project head Machakaji Maharajan says that there is a plan to hand over all the construction work of the building by next June.
“We are working so that the residence of the chief minister and ministers of the province can be built by next June,” he said, “we are careful not to delay too much.”
The project could not be completed on time due to delay in construction and dispute over road with residential area. The construction work of the boundary wall has also been stopped after the issue of the road was raised by the residents of the west side of the minister’s residence. For a long time, the local residents of the west direction have been demanding that the 11-meter road be left when the wall of the minister’s residence is built. However, the project maintains a condition that only 8 meters can be left.
If the wall is built as per the demand of the local people, the master plan of the minister’s residence will be affected.
If the local people need 11 meters of road, the government has asked them to agree to provide land on both sides of the project by creating a ‘centre line’. However, the work of enclosing the minister’s residence with a concrete wall has stalled due to lack of satisfaction from the local people.
A contract has also been given for construction of infrastructure like building, swimming pool, community hall, garden for security personnel inside the minister’s residence. Another contract worth Rs 11 crore has been taken for interior work in the building.
A separate building has been constructed for 24 ministers and a special building has also been prepared for the speaker of the National Assembly. Apart from this, two other buildings have been prepared for the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.
The buildings where the ministers reside will have a lobby, meeting rooms, meeting rooms, secret meeting rooms and offices on the ground floor. On the upper floor there will be a master bed room and a bedroom with a kitchen and dining room. There are bedrooms with a yoga room on the floor above that.
Project leader Shrestha says that the interiors of the buildings have been designed keeping Vastu in mind. Each minister’s residence has a separate room for guards, and security arrangements like airport-like X-ray tests are being made before entering the residence area.
The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli hastily laid the foundation stone on October 13, 2076, because the design of the minister’s residence was not in accordance with the master plan. It is not yet certain when the minister’s residence will be habitable due to delay in awarding the contract for the second phase, slow construction and disputes in the local area.