KATHMANDU, AUGUST 9

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has given more time to Norvic International Hospital to clear structures that were built on the land it had leased for 20 years some 15 years ago.

Yesterday, Mayor Balendra Shah had reached the hospital premises and issued a 24-hour-ultimatum against the hospital to clear structures that house equipment for essential services - CT scan and MRI - as well as a water plant facility.

Shah visited the hospital once again today, revoked the earlier ultimatum, and gave more time to the hospital administration to remove 'illegal structures'.

Norvic Hospital has been operating several services in an area spread over 8,200 square feet that it had leased from the government for 20 years in 2007. In an agreement with the minister of land reforms, the hospital was allowed to use the area without constructing a permanent building.

KMC claims that structures have been erected in the area violating the agreement signed between the government and the hospital. However, hospital authorities have refuted the charge.

Norvic's Chairman Rajendra Bahadur Singh held a press meet this morning and said it was not possible to remove the structures immediately. He claimed that none of the structures KMC had called illegal were built breaching the agreement. In any case, even if the contract was to be revoked, the government should provide them three months to remove it, he added.

The hospital had acquired 8,200 sq feet of the government land at an annual lease of Rs 33,000 at an increment of 10 per cent every year. Hospital authorities claim that they had already paid 20-year lease amount in advance.

As the row between hospital and KMC escalated Mayor Shah reached Norvic today again and said the hospital was required to remove the structures as per the direction of a technical team of the KMC.

Norvic hospital has built structures on the leased land which it claims to be temporary structures that do not have any concrete roofs as per the agreement.

However, KMC calls those structures illegal.

'These illegal structures must be removed,' Shah told mediapersons outside the hospital building.

When asked how much time does the hospital have to remove the structures.

'That could be anything from 15 to 30 days,' Shah said.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 10, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.