Kathmandu

The rate of building construction approvals has witnessed a steep decline even in the third quarter of this fiscal. According to Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), the rate of building construction approvals has dropped by 35 per cent as compared to the fiscal year 2014/15. Thanks to the massive earthquake followed by continuous aftershocks and economic blockade due to which people were largely discouraged to build new houses. People are also still in a dilemma whether it is safe to build a new house right now or not.

By the end of March, KMC had issued as many as 1,883 construction approvals while 2,917 building permits were approved in the fiscal year 2014/15. Similarly, the rate of building construction approvals has dipped by 39 per cent in Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC). It has recorded a mere 450 building permits issued by the end of March whereas the record shows 741 permits were issued for the corresponding period last fiscal.

The lack of availability of construction material just before the peak season for building houses due to the economic embargo is another major reason for the decline in the number applicants for constructing houses. Moreover, delay in earthquake relief funds distribution and new guidelines to construct buildings have discouraged people from constructing houses.

“After the earthquake, people were in wait and watch mood and are still waiting for a favourable time to build their houses,” said Gambhir Lal Shrestha, Civil Engineer at KMC. However, he informed, “Of late, the application for building permits has increased as compared to the previous months.”

As per the ‘Fundamental Construction Bylaws on Settlement Development, Urban Planning and Building Construction 2015,’ new directive introduced by the government after the earthquake, it is mandatory to maintain setback of 1.5 m for houses not taller than three storeys from the border of the land plot. More-over, residential buildings cannot cover more than 70 per cent of land for plots up to 250 sq ft. As per the bylaws, road access of six-metre is compulsory to construct a residential building.

For land area which has no access to roads, the government has directed the department of survey to plan accordingly. Shrestha informed that the government is planning to introduce guidelines for development of roads. “However, it is a huge task for us to release roads from private land,” he said.

Citing that there is lack of urban planning for Kathmandu, he said, “Unplanned urbanisation has not only deteriorated the beauty of the city but has made it even unsafe,” adding that to ensure new constructions are safe, they are strictly monitoring construction. According to him, it is required to follow the residential building code, deploy skilled manpower and use quality construction material to ensure safety of the building.

Despite the government’s announcement to implement land use policy for zoning residential areas and other purposes, it does not seem to be in practice. “After the earthquake the government made it compulsory to do soil tests for every construction,” he shared, adding that now the construction of buildings spreading over 10,000 sq ft only needs to do soil test before applying for construction permits.

“It is obvious the number of building permits has significantly dropped as the government had halted construction approvals for three months immediately after the quake,” said Harish Chandra Lamichhane, Civil Engineer at Urban Development Division, LSMC.

Citing that continuing aftershocks discouraged people from constructing new houses, Lamichhane said, this is the reason for fewer applicants. He also said that earthquake victims are still waiting for the government’s policy on reconstruction. “For earthquake victims, we are providing 75 per cent reduction on construction map tax,” he informed.

“Following new guidelines seems to be im-practical for people of core residential areas. So, we are working as per the traditional guidelines,” Lamichhane added. However, he stressed that the construction techniques should be followed as per the guidelines. Earlier column size of RCC framed structure was 9X12 inch but now it is compulsory to construct 12X12 inch columns. He informed that engineering consultants will be held responsible for the safety of buildings.