Twenty years after demolishing its old property at New Road, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is gearing up to construct a new office building. The 55,000 square feet structure to be built over seven ropanis of land at Teku will be earthquake resistant steel, according to KMC.

The KMC published a noticed on January 4, inviting bidders for the office construction. The KMC’s 29th Municipal Council meeting last week allocated Rs310 million for the construction in addition to Rs200 million set aside for the purpose last year. “We now have Rs510 million for the construction of the office building. The metropolis will have its own building by the end of this year,” said Uttar Kumar Regmi, chief of Department of Physical Development and Construction at the KMC.

According to Regmi, the new building can withstand a 9-magnitude earthquake. “An L-shape six-storey structure with a basement will be first building of its kind in Nepal,” he said, adding that the building’s steel structure will have equal longevity as compared to reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and is more resilient to earthquake. 

The metropolis started working on its own building after its current office at Bagh Durbar in Sundhara was badly damaged by the devastating earthquake of April 25, 2015. The KMC had shifted its offices to Bagh Durbar in 2003 during the tenure of former mayor Keshav Sthapit. Earlier, it had offices in Teku, Kalimati and Bagbazaar. 

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 in 2014. The KMC was forced to evict the Rastriya Sabha Griha building in December 2015 following orders of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to find a new office building, saying that the convention centre was meant to host international events, not to house a government office.

Upon completion of the building, the KMC plans to shift 11 departments to Teku.