Confusion in the action plan related to the operation of the tower, environmental impact assessment was not done even when the construction was completed
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday inaugurated the Damak View Tower, which was built without passing the map, and whose environmental impact assessment has not even been done. There is confusion as to who will use the tower and how it will be used because the operation plan of the tower built at Damak-3 Dapgachi in Jhapa has not been made.
When Oli was Prime Minister for the second time, he laid the foundation of View Tower on June 27, 2076. The 100 meter high view tower has 18 floors. The tower, located about three kilometers northwest of Damak Bazaar, was completed in 5 years at a cost of about one and a half billion rupees. However, the necessary management modality and solid action plan for the operation of the tower have not been made.
"Damak Nagar deputy chief Regina Bhattarai said the process has stopped because the revenue of Rs. 28 lakh required for passing the map has not been deposited in the municipality." Ramesh Thing, the head of the Urban and Building Construction Office, claimed that there was a delay in passing house maps due to the lack of expert staff in the municipality. According to him, the tower has been built according to international standards and it can be done after the pass process.
Although this structure is owned by Damak municipality, spread over about five bigha land, the local government is unhappy because there is no coordination for its operation. Damak Nagar chief Ramkumar Thapa said that the federal government had inaugurated the tower ignoring the municipality.
Damak Nagar is headed by RPP and deputy chief by Congress. The local people's representative alleges that the ownership of the municipality was not given due to the lack of UML leadership. Some time ago, Damak's residents and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Devendra Dahal, were told by the people's representatives of the city that the municipality is capable of operating the tower. However, Mayor Thapa complained that the government does not want to cooperate with the municipality.
Although the tower has been built with crores of investment, the condition of roads and other infrastructure leading to it is poor. According to Mayor Thapa, it is estimated that an additional 50 million rupees will be spent for the construction of the infrastructure leading to the View Tower. The price of land in Dapgachi area has increased rapidly due to the construction of the tower. Five years ago, the land costing Rs 5 lakh has now gone up to Rs 5 lakh each.
In the opening program, Prime Minister Oli said that this project was started with the aim of promoting local and national level development and economic activities. He explained the View Tower as a Damak shopping complex. Oli has claimed that along with employment, the door to the possibility of tourism development will also be opened. However, local residents are not optimistic about its economic returns. "The construction of the tower is said to create development and employment opportunities, but we do not have hope and confidence in that," said local Krishna Tamang, "The view from the 18th floor is only the surrounding slums."
The government has issued an order regarding the formation of a development committee to give the operation and management of specific structures like the View Tower to the private sector. The committee said that it will entrust the private sector to operate the view tower through a tender. Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, Gopal Prasad Sigdel said that the tower constructed under the leadership of the ministry will be cooperated with a private company for operation.
"Some entry fee will be kept for the management of the tower, while a plan is being made to give a lease contract to the company for operation," he said at a press conference held in Damak on Saturday.
On June 27, 2076, the Chinese company ZCGIEC, Ashish and Om Sairam JV got the construction contract for 1 billion 56 million 14 lakh rupees. The goal was to complete the construction by December 27, 2078. However, due to problems including covid, the construction company extended the deadline and completed the work in 5 years. The
view tower is planned to be developed as a commercial complex of up to 15 floors, three floors of restaurants, seminar halls and tourist attractions.
It is said that there will be commercial shops, corporate office, exhibition hall and local ethnic museum. The government is also preparing to give the ownership of this tower to the International Convention Center Development Committee.
