Kathmandu, October 24:

Residents in the periphery of Bramha Cottage construction site have complained of breach of contract by the Caddel Construction Co Inc — the contractor constructing the American Embassy building at Maharajgunj.

At a programme in Reporters Club today, residents victims asked for compensation for damage due to the construction. Pile driving in the site is pure mental agony for people in the neighbourhood for the past some weeks. Locals said the surrounding buildings are threatened and that they were unable to concentrate on their work due to the noise and vibration caused by the pile driving.

Locals complained the construction company people had neglected to keep their end of the bargain. Under the terms of the contract signed on September 19, company representatives were supposed to visit people’s homes to know about the adverse effects of the construction procedures but there have been no such visits, said Chun Bahadur Thapa of Maharajgunj. It was also difficult to contact them, he added.

Ganga Bahadur KC said the precast concrete piles driven to a depth of 90 feet cause tremors that are felt by the neighbourhood people. The vibrations have caused cracks in the ceilings and walls of adjoining houses .

Laura Lucas, deputy director at the American Centre, said that due to security reasons people could not be allowed inside the construction site. She suggested they get in touch with the construction company for solving their problems.

Residents in the construction site’s surrounding areas grumbled hat the contractor was not compensating their damages uniformly. Only a few have received compensation but that is insufficient to cover the damage costs, they said.