GIETS Raman wins Dharhara reconstruction bid

Kathmandu, Sept. 2: GIETC-Raman JV has proposed to reconstruct the Dharahara – the iconic structure in the capital which was destroyed in the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015 – at a cost of Rs. 3.45 billion.

This is the lowest bid proposed to the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) among the six construction companies that submitted their economic proposals to it.

“The proposed budget is for the 22-storey and extended infrastructure of the tower that will stand at Sundhara, Kathmandu. The government has already prepared the design of the new structure,” said Manohar Ghimire, NRA spokesperson.

The NRA said that it opened the economic proposals of the bidding companies on Sunday.

Other companies in the Dharhara-construction run were CICO Kalika Rasuwa JV, ZIEC Lama JV, CR5CEC Swachchhand JV, Ashish Construction and Kumar CFEC.

CICO Kalika Rasuwa had proposed Rs. 4.39 billion, ZIEC Lama Rs. 4.50 billion, CR5CEC Swachchhand Rs. 4.52 billon and Kumar CFEC Rs. 4.49 billion to rebuild the Dharhara. Ashish was ousted from the technical evaluation, said NRA.

Joint-Secretary of the NRA Raju Man Manandhar said that the reconstruction body was studying the economic proposal of GIETC Raman. The company will be given seven days to submit a Letter of Intent (LoI), and the agreement will be signed in a couple of weeks after that.

The NRA had asked for the bid to reconstruct the Dharhara on May 14. The opening of the financial proposals of the five qualified companies was delayed by a month after Kalika Rasuwa filed a complaint at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking authenticity of the Chinese firms partnering with other Nepali contractors to rebuild the monument.

After the compliant, the PMO directed the NRA to halt the opening of the proposals and initiate investigation into the Chinese firms. The reconstruction body through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sought information about them from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.

Although Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had laid the foundation stone of Dharhara during his first premiership in 2016, there has been no significant progress in its reconstruction.

The state-owned Nepal Telecommunication Company (NT) had shown interest to rebuild it at a cost of about Rs. 8 billion on condition that it would be allowed to manage the property for the next 30 years. But it backtracked from the project due to some disagreement with the NRA as the latter refused to allow the NT to use it for commercial purpose.

The government has collected about Rs. 80 million under the ‘I will rebuild my Dharhara’ campaign.

Bhimsen Thapa, the first Prime Minister of modern Nepal, had built the tower in 1832. The 9-storey structure had 213 steps in its spiral staircase to the top and a balcony on the seventh storey.

About 180 people were killed when the Dharhara collapsed after the 7.9 magnitude earthquake brought the tower down. The Dharahara is also known as Bhimsen Stambha.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 September 2018.