Reconstruction of Bagmati Province Buildings Damaged in Jenjya Movement: Four Ministries to Operate from One Building
April 20, Hetauda – The ministry building of Bagmati Province, which was damaged by arson and vandalism during the Jenjya movement, has been reconstructed. The five-story building located in Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City–1 has been restored to a usable condition after repairs. The building was set on fire and vandalized by protesters on September 9 during the Jenjya movement. On Monday, Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya and Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Dr. Dineshchandra Devkota jointly inaugurated the renovated building. Minister Dr. Devkota informed that the reconstruction was carried out using scientific and modern technologies. According to him, after structural engineers from Pulchowk Engineering Campus tested its load-bearing capacity, the building was strengthened using ‘retrofitting’ techniques.
Bhupendra Kumar Yadav, head of the Housing, Building, and Urban Development Division of the ministry, provided technical details regarding the reconstruction. He stated that the building was rebuilt through a tender process on November 26 with a contract amount of NPR 12.8 million, which was less than the estimated NPR 18.4 million. The ministry also repaired and reinstated the building’s elevator and transformer. Following reconstruction, this building will house the offices of four ministries: Labor, Employment and Transport; Agriculture and Livestock Development; Drinking Water, Energy and Irrigation; and Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.
Prior to the movement, the building accommodated the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, along with the Ministries of Transport, Agriculture, and Drinking Water. Currently, the Physical Infrastructure Ministry operates from a new building near the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers’ Office. Secretary Ishwar Chandra Marhatta informed that the Physical Infrastructure Ministry operates from a building constructed for the Urban Development and Building Office in Makwanpur. During the inauguration, Chief Minister Baniya highlighted that the lack of suitable physical infrastructure had forced ministries to operate temporarily until now. He added that the process to acquire land for permanent buildings for provincial ministries and agencies has been completed, and tenders for construction will be initiated during this fiscal year.
Secretary Marhatta confirmed that physical infrastructure damage in the province exceeded NPR 100 million during the movement, with losses to buildings alone estimated at NPR 58 million. To ensure transparency in repair works, all procedures followed public procurement regulations. The ministry reported that under the repair plan for five buildings damaged during the Jenjya movement, repairs for four buildings have been completed, while restoration work on the Provincial Assembly Secretariat building is in its final phase.
For repair and making the building usable, the Ministry of Finance allocated a budget of NPR 62.4 million, and contracts worth NPR 39.5 million had been signed. Discussions with the Ministry of Finance are ongoing regarding the reconstruction of the completely destroyed Provincial Assembly’s new building and the old Urban Development and Building Office building. Preliminary reports from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning indicated that 27 offices and 61 buildings under the provincial government in Kathmandu, Chitwan, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and Makwanpur were damaged. Specifically, in Kathmandu there were three buildings across two offices; in Chitwan, 10 buildings at three offices; Bhaktapur had two buildings in one office; Makwanpur suffered damage to 41 buildings across 18 offices; and Lalitpur had five buildings in three offices affected. In terms of vehicles, 143 two-wheelers and 56 four-wheelers were burned and destroyed.
A technical evaluation team led by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, including two experts brought from Kathmandu, assessed the various ministry offices, provincial assembly hall, offices, and agency buildings in Hetauda. Damaged buildings were categorized into three groups based on their technical condition: those immediately usable, those repairable for use after maintenance, and those completely unsafe requiring reconstruction.
