Dhangadi, December 9

A site of historical significance, Kailali’s Garva Durbar lies in derelict condition owing to lack of necessary conservation efforts.

The palace based in Khairala in Chure Rural Municipality-4 was built more than a century ago by the then Rana rulers. The three-storey palace with 83 windows and 53 doors is said to have been built for the purpose of collecting taxes and settling cases from Kailali, Kanchanpur and Doti districts.

“Nobody has lived in the palace for long and its repair is also long due. This site of historical importance is slowly falling out of shape,” said local Kalika Basic School Principal Chandralal Dhungana, accusing the state of not doing the needful to conserve the historical site.

After the Ranas left the durbar, a post office and a village development committee office was set up in the site in the past. But ever since the estate was set ablaze during the decade-long Maoist insurgency, the building has been uninhabited.

By this date, most of the doors and windows of the palace have fallen out of shape. Though Sudurpashchim Province government had allocated budget for renovation of the palace last fiscal, the budget simply froze after nothing in the way of renovation or repair could happen. Though budget has been allocated for renovation this year as well, no work has been done so far.

Locals have stressed the need of renovation of the palace, or construction of a new palace in the fashion of the old one if renovation is not possible.