The historical landmark of Nepal, Dharahara, stands only after 6 years of its fall; yet transparency of expenditure is questioned

Kathmandu: Nepal always holds pessimistic trends when it comes to the completion of development projects. However, the construction of Dharahara is an exception. The completion of Dharahara was quicker than expected despite the impact of the pandemic in the latter years of reconstruction.

Many projects such as Melamchi project, Arun Hydropower Project,, and many others have taken longer than expected.

“Among seven major components in the rebuilding of Dharahara, the rebuilding of the main tower has been completed. A few minor constructions are pending, but overall, the reconstruction process has been comparatively faster than other development and reconstruction projects,” said Bharat Prasad Aryal, Project Head of Dharahara Reconstruction.

Coming to the history of the reconstruction, on 25 December 2015, the government of Nepal authorized the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) for the reconstruction of the fallen structure. It was officially inaugurated on 24 April 2021, a day before the 6th anniversary of the quake.

The construction of Dharahara, however, is not out of controversy.

Dharahara, the archival monument of Nepal collapsed during the dreadful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 that battered Nepal on 25 April 2015, leaving people with the destruction of homes and loss of families.

Seeing the historical emblem of Nepal standing up has brought a smile to the face of the Nepali citizens. 

Aryal informed that the main reason behind the rapid reconstruction of Dharahara is the government’s assignment of a dedicated reconstruction entity. “The National Reconstruction Authority made it easy to take quick decisions without delaying the rebuilding process,” he added. 

The government managed the funding and the NRA took the responsibility of the labor management.

Not out of controversy

The construction of Dharahara, however, is not out of controversy. Social media is flooded with posts questioning “where did the four billion rupees go?” It is clear that people are expecting a transparent expenditure report.

We need #Kasthamandap to be built first rather than unnecessary ugly #Dharahara. So many earthquake victim homeless people are waiting for help to build their homes but now 4.5 billion rupees going to be spent for that shitty landmark.

— Süshil Sthäpit 🇳🇵 🇨🇦 🇩🇪 🇹🇭 🇳🇱 (@hacchoom) September 2, 2018

New Dharahara inauguration today.

Popular? Yes
Priority? No
Will i visit? Yes

Used to visit the old one all the time, was invited to its 2004 public opening. Was supposed to be there (evening) on Apr 25, 2015, too.

Base of Old Dharahara covered in scaffolding/net.

2009 & 2021 https://t.co/25GVLm9fL2 pic.twitter.com/9lAUz1KRtz

— Kashish Das Shrestha (@kashishds) April 24, 2021

A few of the Twitterati also questioned the government’s priority. “Should Dharahara be a priority now amid a flaring pandemic?”

Imagine how many hospitals with ICU beds could have been made with all that ridiculous amount spent on #Dharahara ! Imagine how better if would have been if that amount was used for contact tracing and better quarantine facilities.
I don't need no Dharahara. https://t.co/dT2B9FLEE0

— j3Rii (@j3Rii) April 23, 2021

The Dharahara Reconstruction Project is estimated to be completed around December, according to Aryal. However, this is one of the few projects that did not delay itself longer, unlike the rest of the development projects of Nepal.