KATHMANDU, Dec 12: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Mayor Balendra Shah has expressed concern over the bulldozing of the major tap (stone spout) at Sundhara in the course of reconstructing Dharahara. Mayor Shah organized a press conference today and expressed his concern.
The tap at Sundhara is a historic and cultural asset, so it must not be destroyed, he said. In the name of reconstruction in the Sundhara area, damaging a major tap is worrying, he added.
Mayor Shah not only objected to the reconstruction undergoing in the Sundhara area but also requested the contractor to stop the works. On Sunday, the local people, chairperson of ward no 22 and representatives of Sankata Club of New Road had protested the ongoing works of Raman Construction Company, arguing that historic structures of the Sundhara tap were destroyed while the Company was making a huge trench behind Sundhara in a bid to set up a water tank capacious to store 100,000 liters of water.
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Following the protest of the locals, Mayor Shah expressed concern why KMC was not informed while the centuries-old structure was demolished. Shah said that KMC was not informed about the activities ongoing in the Sundhara area.
He also inspected the area where a trench is being dug to set up a water tank.
In response, project manager of Raman Construction, Sanjay Nakarmi, however, said they were forwarding the construction works as per the order of the government body concerned. For now, the laborers were directed to stop the work, he added.
Ward no 22 chairperson Chini Kaji Maharjan and chairperson of Sankata Club, Indra Man Tuladhar, and others issued a press statement, saying that wiping out the existence of Sundhara was condemnable.
It was informed at the press meet that although the outer structure as Bhimsen pillar was erected some 200 years ago, the stone spout might have come into existence 400 to 500 years ago.
