DHADING: Nepal Army has shown interest in the protection of historic Kandrang Gadhi (fort) located in the remote southern region of Dhading district. The historical fort, which is 1,450 metres above the sea level, has been in a dilapidated condition in sore lack of conservation. The run-down fort has a stone wall mounted around it as well as four small and big tunnels nearby. The locals believe that the fort was constructed during the time of the Sen dynasty of Makawanpur before fortification of unified Nepal. As various areas of Dhading, Makawanpur, Gorkha and Chitwan districts can easily be viewed from the fort, locals believe that rulers of the Sen dynasty constructed the fort in such a place to avoid an attack on Makawanpur, which was later merged into unified Nepal by the then king Prithvi Narayan Shah. Chair of Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality-2 of Dhading, Tanka Bahadur Thapa, lamented that due to lack of upkeep of the fort many historical transcriptions that should have been preserved at the site are now missing. According to local social worker Tulsi Thapa, the fort — 22 kilometres away from Malekhu along the under-construction Malekhu-Bhandara road section — can be developed into a tourist destination after the preservation. In line with this, Nepali Army has started the process of reconstruction and maintenance of the neglected fort and has already received permission for the same from Defence Ministry, informed Major Gaurav Silwal of Gajuri-based Devi Dutta Company of Nepal Army. Major Silwal further added that restoration of Kandrang Gadi falls under the campaign to restore and secure the historically significant forts, castles, and regional museums that were constructed and used during and after the unification of Nepal, Anglo-Nepal War and bring under the purview of Nepal Army, within five years. Under the first phase of the campaign, 80 personnel from the Devi Dutta Company cleared the shrubs and weeds over the fort and started work on the broken wall from Saturday. (Translated by: Sandeep Sen; Edited by: Priyanka Adhikari)