Kathmandu, November 3

Kathmandu Metropolitan City office is being temporarily shifted to the District Coordination Committee building at Babarmahal.

The KMC office started shifting all its departments and divisions to the DCC building a few days ago as it has decided to demolish and reconstruct the quake-damaged Bag Durbar, which housed its office.

KMC will operate from the DCC building until Bag Durbar is reconstructed. “The education division of KMC has already started operating from the DCC building, while other divisions and departments are in the process of being shifted. KMC will operate from the building for the next three years,” said Joint Spokesperson for the KMC Namaraj Dhakal, adding that reconstruction of Bag Durbar will also be completed in three years.

Amid differences with Department of Archaeology over demolishing Bag Durbar, KMC had made public the design of the new Bag Durbar this week. As per the design,  the new building will have three separate parts with different architectural designs.

The first part, which will be a three-storey building, will retain the architectural design of Bag Durbar. The second part, which will be a six-storey building, will follow Lichchhavi-era architecture, while the third part will be built in the design of a tower. The tower will have 15 storeys.

The new KMC office building will also have a room for emergency treatment of service-seekers. KMC said the new building would have disabled-friendly structures. More than 200 employees work at KMC office.

Earlier, KMC and Department of Archaeology had expressed their own views regarding reconstruction of Bag Durbar. DoA had said Bag Durbar was a historical building and hence should not be demolished. But a fresh study said Bag Durbar was constructed after 1990 BS and was not yet 100 years old.