The concerned ministry should prepare details of the damaged vehicles, remove them from the records and give them to the Ministry of Urban Development, and the city should auction them off in one lump sum.
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Vehicles that were burned in the Singha Durbar complex during the Gen-G movement have been left stranded at the Birendra International Conference Center (Parliament Building) in New Baneshwor.
In coordination with the Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Infrastructure and Transport, damaged vehicles have been taken to the Parliament Building and piled up. The process of managing the vehicles piled up in this manner has not yet progressed.
Even the ministry that initially coordinated to keep the vehicles is still unclear about this. Burnt vehicles have been kept in various places in the Parliament Building premises. The eyes of pedestrians traveling through New Baneshwor and Ohardohar have been drawn to the burnt Parliament Building and the burnt vehicles kept inside it.
Narayan Prasad Mainali, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development, said that he was not aware of any further process other than taking the burnt vehicles to the Parliament Building. ‘Now, we do not know how to manage those vehicles,’ he said, ‘We have only taken the burnt vehicles and dumped them, no other process has progressed.’
The concerned ministry had taken the deed of the vehicles and kept them at the Parliament Building. There are 61 four-wheelers and 62 two-wheelers damaged under the Ministry of Urban Development alone. The Ministry of Urban Development has stated that 145 four-wheelers, 256 two-wheelers and 2 buses from various ministries and agencies have been burnt in the Parliament building. Similarly, 24 two-wheelers and 11 four-wheelers have been damaged in the arson under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
The details of the damage to vehicles from other agencies under the ministry are yet to be compiled, said Sushila Poudel Dahal, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry's Internal Management Branch. The largest number of vehicles were parked at the Road Department and burned. According to the Road Department, 88 four-wheelers, 100 two-wheelers and 7 heavy equipment were burnt and destroyed.
Due to the agitation, most of the employees parked their vehicles in the Road Department premises, causing major damage. Hemraj Aryal, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, said that the management of those vehicles has been decided through a secretary-level decision taken on 29th December. “All ministries will have to submit the details of the vehicles destroyed by burning to the Ministry of Urban Development in one go,” he said. “After that, the concerned ministries will have to remove the names and numbers of the destroyed vehicles from their records and dispose of them.” He said that since all the vehicles are now kept in one place, now it has been decided that the concerned ministry will dispose of those vehicles and auction them off.
‘Now such vehicles will not be cars, motorcycles, scooters but will be auctioned as goods,’ he said, ‘There will be no price for spare parts, they will be auctioned as iron ingots in kilograms.’ As per the decision of the secretary meeting, the exemption and auction sale of vehicles and other physical assets burnt during the Gen-G movement on Bhadra 23 and 24 will be done in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers on Asoj 5. According to which, the ministry/body will complete the exemption process as per the prevailing law and hand over a comprehensive list of goods to be auctioned at the auction, and the urban development department will proceed with the auction process.
The secretary meeting has also decided to make arrangements for compulsory insurance of currently operating and new vehicles and buildings. The meeting has decided to immediately repair and put into operation vehicles that can be repaired. ‘In cases where new vehicles need to be purchased immediately based on necessity and justification, the Ministry of Finance will manage resources and provide guidance,’ the decision states. ‘The study being conducted by the Ministry of Finance for the long-term management of vehicles should be completed and submitted as soon as possible.’
21 ministries, including the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, are located within Singha Durbar. All of them have collected the deed of the vehicles damaged in the fire and have taken the vehicles to the Parliament Building. The Urban Development Department still does not have accurate data on how many vehicles were damaged.
