Illegal sheds being built in front of Narayan temple
Himalayan News Service
Kathmandu, April 7:
Taking advantage of the three-day bandh and the political instability, some people have started constructing illegal sheds to house shops on public land in front of the Narayan temple next to Dharahara, the Bhimsen Tower. The Narayan temple, next to the Shiva temple, was a part of the giant Bagh Durbar constructed during the Rana period. After the democracy of 1950, a small portion of the durbar was converted into the Finance Ministry and the rest of the property was sold having first divided it into scores of smaller plots after the place became a raving commercial site.The two temples, constructed in the Mughat style, are located along the main road.
A series of shutters are being constructed leaving space for only a small lane to reach the temple, where a stone statue of Garuda, the servant of Vishnu, stands. Nobody, not even the workers at the site know, who the shops belong to. The local residents said two people with Shaha family names have laid claim over the land and constructed the sheds without permission from the concerned Ward-11 office, which is necessary to construct anything, even on private property. Furthermore, there has been no notification of the ongoing construction at the Department of Archaeology. Locals said they have sought clarification about this illegal construction from the ward office as well as the Department of Archaeology, but both the institutions have remained unusually silent over the crude violation of law.