KATHMANDU, April 19: While Kathmandu Model College is constructing a building in an area of dense settlement in Bagbazar, Kathmandu, the surrounding houses have started to crack. The nearby houses have developed cracks as the college started constructing the building against the house design and without taking the permission from the locals.
The construction of the building was started in Kathmandu Metropolis-28 without passing the house design approval. After the protest of immediate neighbors, the house design was approved by the Kathmandu Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) allowing the college to build an eight-and-a-half-storey building for the purpose of hospitality service. However, at present, the developers have already built an eleven and a half storey building.
The house design was approved by the metropolis only after the construction started. As per the house design, the building should have a two and a half storey basement and an eight and a half storey hotel in an area of 2-1-0-0 (two ropanis of land) of plot numbers 891 and 892 owned by Kathmandu Model Higher Secondary School.
The neighbors had filed a complaint with the Kathmandu metropolis on September 14, 2021 stating that the construction of the building led to damage of their houses and walls and the builders had not taken protective measures. The building was given permission for construction only on December 27, 2021.
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Neighbour Mangal Man Shrestha, 80, also filed a complaint with the Kathmandu metropolis stating that his house was damaged due to a micro pile (anchoring) in his own property. Similarly, Mahendra Ratna Tuladhar also filed a complaint at the ward office saying that the foundation of the house had collapsed and the family was forced to move to another place as it was not habitable. After that, an agreement was reached that the college would take all responsibility for the damage.
According to another local Prakash Bir Singh Tuladhar, the building is being constructed without the consent of the neighbors. Tuladhar, who is also an architect engineer, said that 20 meters of anchoring was done while constructing the building. He is of the opinion that even if one has the right to build a building on his land, he should not damage property of others.
After the houses started to crack, the neighbors filed a complaint demanding to halt the construction of the building. After that, the city police investigated. However, according to Mangal Mohan Shrestha, one of the victims, the police asked him to reconcile with the owner of the building instead. Shrestha claimed that although the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) should be done at the beginning, the construction of the building was started without even the house design approval. He argued that some influential people were constructing the building in the guise of the college administrators. Rameshwar Aryal, Kishor Gautam and others are among the directors of the college.
Shrestha also said that they were pressured to sell their houses. "Where should we go after selling our ancestral property?" asked Tuladhar, “The building is going to be built for the purpose of teaching hotel management. When we asked them about how many floors they took permission for, they replied eight floors. But the building has 11 floors.”
Meanwhile, Kishor Gautam said that he is in discussions with the victims. “We have given compensation to the owners of two houses. Now it is only a matter of one house," he said. “We have already said that we will construct a whole new house for those whose houses have been damaged due to our building. However, we cannot build the houses exactly like they were 50 years ago.” According to Gautam, it has been discussed that a separate engineer will assess the damage and they will pay for it accordingly.
Demands of victimized neighbors
Neighbors who suffered from the building construction said that poles were placed under their houses that are now on the verge of collapsing. "Our house has become unfit to stay. It is not possible to give support from outside. Retrofitting should be done,” said Prakash Bir Singh Tuladhar, who is also an architect engineer. “You cannot mend a house that is tilted.”
“They have placed a pole under my land. I should be compensated,” said Janaki Tuladhar. She demands that the poles placed under her house and land should be removed.
