Khotang. The service delivery of Anselukharka Rural Municipality has started from its own administrative building. The rural municipality, which has been operating in rented houses of the locals since its inception, has formally started its service from its own administrative building from Friday.

The rural municipality, which has been operating the office by paying rs 468,000 as rent including annual tax deduction, has also made it easier for the citizens to get the service after starting service from its own administrative building. Pankaj Acharya, chief of the accounts section of the rural municipality, informed that the administrative building, which was signed with the contractor company to be completed by mid-April 2081 BS, has been completed at a cost of Rs 23 million a year later.

Rural municipality mayor Girendra Bahadur Rai formally inaugurated the administrative building on Friday. The 14-room Durit administrative building, which was recently handed over to the rural municipality after the contractor company completed the construction, has installed a roof of zinc sheet with an iron truss.

On the occasion, Chairman Rai said that the rural municipality has avoided the financial burden with the provision of services from its own administrative building. “There was a lot of trouble in the construction of the administrative building. “The building has been constructed again as per another estimate by changing the initial estimate,” he said, adding, “Due to the negligence of the contractor, we were forced to limit the three-storied administrative building with RCC slope to two floors.” Although it is too late, we have brought into operation our own administrative building of the rural municipality. With the introduction of service by shifting from a rented house to its own administrative building, the financial burden added to the rural municipality every year has also been saved. ’

According to the rural municipality, the construction of the administrative building, which was started after signing the contract agreement on May 15, 2019, has been delayed due to the negligence of the contractor. The rural municipality had cancelled the contract agreement after it was revealed that the contractor company had submitted the bill to the rural municipality for the payment of the first phase by making a fake report (report) during the construction.

An agreement was signed with the contractor company Rujan-Jagadamba-Bhuvaneshwari and Baibhav JV for the construction of a three-storey administrative building with 16 rooms including the assembly hall to be completed on February 19, 2077 BS. The rural municipality had estimated a cost of Rs 36,985,873 for the administrative building, which was started with the joint investment of the state government and the rural municipality. However, the contractor company had signed an agreement to complete the construction at a cost of Rs 26,843,346 including value added tax.

A few months after signing the agreement, the contractor company had prepared for the second floor of the building. The rural municipality had cancelled the contract agreement following negligence on the part of the contractor in the construction of the administrative building with RCC slope.

Spokesperson of lalitpur rural municipality and ward chair of Ward No. 3, Tekendra Rajbhandari, said that the rural municipality cancelled the contract after the Lalitpur-based Quality Research and Development Centre pointed out that the contractor company did not maintain the quality as per the agreement during the construction of the administrative building. Even before the rural municipality sent a letter, the builders had already sloped the slab of the first floor of the under-construction administrative building.

After repeated discussions in the Nepal Arbitration Council for the completion of the administrative building which was stuck under construction after the cancellation of the agreement with the contractor company, a bilateral agreement was reached on December 20, 2080 BS. As per the agreement, the construction work was started by re-signing an agreement on February-10, 2080 BS.