Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) authority is looking for a new office building. The authority’s plan to stay at Rastriya Sabha Griha in Bhrikutimandap, after its office at Bagh Durbar in Sundhara was destroyed by the April 25 earthquake, has been thwarted by two other government bodies.

First, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament did not allow the KMC authority to remove the tenants from the City Market, a commercial centre owned by the metropolis at Old Bus Park, and set up its office for a time being. And then came the Commission for the Investigation for Abuse of Authority’s demurral when the KMC authority decided to keep its office address at its current location, the Rastriya Sabha Griha.

The KMC had shifted from its Bagh Durbar office after the building, which was built more than 150 years ago, was severely damaged by the earthquake. The metropolis had been working from the building since 2004. Only the Revenue Department, Urban Development Department, Law Department, and Relationship Verification Office of the KMC remain there.

After the earthquake, all other KMC departments, including the office of chief and executive officer, were moved to the Rastriya Sabha Griha, the convention centre which hosted the Saarc conference last year.

The KMC’s original plan was to shift the office to City Market located just behind the convention centre. To that end, it had also issued a notice to all tenants, asking them to vacate the complex. But PAC halted KMC’s plan to vacate the City Market, saying that most of the traders operating there are earthquake victims and that they should not be robbed of their income sources.

After its failure to secure the City Market, the KMC decided to continue to operate from the Rastriya Sabha Griha. It even built four prefabricated houses on the premises. But earlier this month, the CIAA directed the KMC to find a new office building within a month, arguing that the convention centre was meant to host international events, not to house a government office.

The KMC has called a tender for renting a new office. According to its Procurement Unit, it has received four proposals so far, which are under review. Sources say that the KMC will decide on a new location after Executive Officer Rudra Singh Tamang has returned from a foreign junket.

In the long run, the KMC plans to return to its old base, Bagh Durbar. Tamang has said that Bagh Durbar will be rebuilt as the primary administrative centre for Kathmandu in the new federal set-up, equipped with radio and TV stations, programme hall, cinema hall and theatre halls. The cost of renovating the Bagh Durbar has been estimated at Rs 1 billion, of which Rs 50 million has been allocated in this year’s budget.