By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 23: The government has decided to bring the Dharahara Tower into operation from November 24. Dharahara reconstructed after the 2015 quake pulled down the old one, has been partly operated since September 19 this year.
It will formally come into operation from Sunday, said Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung on Friday while making the decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on Thursday evening public. Speaking at the press meeting, Minister Gurung, who is also the government Spokesperson, said that children aged below 10 years can climb up the 22-storey tower free of cost while the senior citizens aged above 70 will get a 50 per cent discount. Earlier on September 12, the government had decided to make Dharahara open to the public allowing only 500 persons to climb it without paying any fee.
According to Minister Gurung, the government has decided to open Dharahara under the Special Structures Operation and Management Development Committee Formation Order (2024). Under the Order, the government has categorised six structures, from Dharahara to Damak View Tower, as special structures. The order specifies that the International Conference Centre in New Baneshwar, Sunrise Hall in Godavari, Butwal International Conference Hall and Butwal International Exhibition Centre in Rupandehi, and any other structures designated as special structures by the government through notifications in the Nepal Gazette can be considered special structures.
Using the authority granted by Section 3 of the Development Committee Act, 2013, the government had issued the order. According to the Order, the Special Structures Operation and Management Development Committee will be responsible for the operation and management of special structures built by the government. The committee will be chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development.
Other members include the Joint Secretaries from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, the Joint Secretary of the Building and Planning Division under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Director General of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, a representative designated by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a member of the Hotel Association of Nepal, and the Executive Director of the Committee serving as the Member Secretary. The Committee will make arrangements for the use of the special structures based on their nature, such as organising national and international meetings, conferences, seminars, workshops, cultural programmes or exhibitions. It will also decide fees for such activities.
Furthermore, the Committee will oversee the maintenance, management, control, and conservation of both movable and immovable assets of the special structures. The government will appoint an Executive Director to handle the day-to-day operations of the Committee. Also, the Cabinet meeting appointed some members to the Decoration Committee to make necessary work procedures and recommendations to the government for the selection and fixing criteria for dignitaries to be honoured by the President.
The members include Dr. Labadev Awasthi, Gopinath Mainali, Umesh Raj Joshi, Surendra Kumar Jha, Prof. Yogendra Gurung and Sharmila Gurung.
For the past two years, the national decoration programme could not be held after the dignitaries selected for decorations in the past were dragged into controversies. Upon a proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Cabinet decided to form a recommendation committee led by Secretary for the Ministry of Home Affairs Gokarna Mani Duwadee to recommend the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. Other members of the committee include former secretary Deepak Subedi, and Reader Dr.
Reshma Shrestha. Similarly, the meeting decided to nominate the President of the Federation of Nepalis Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Chandra Dhakal; the President of the Confederation of Nepalis Industries (CNI), Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal, as members of the High-Level Economic Reform Advisory Commission from the private sector. Earlier, the government had formed this Commission led by former finance secretary Dr.
Rameshwor Prasad Khanal. The meeting also decided to accept grant assistance of approximately Rs. 1.
76 billion from the Swiss government for the Safe Migration Phase-IV programme, according to Minister Gurung. Additionally, the meeting decided to recommend Purna Bahadur Nepali, a resident of Kapilvastu, for the appointment of Nepal's ambassador to Sri Lanka. The government has approved the visit of the Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr.
Shivaraj Adhikari to Manila, Philippines, to take part in the 16th Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum in Asia meeting to be kicked from December 10 -12. The government has also decided to endorse the minutes and agendas of the second meeting of the Nepal-China Coordination Mechanism on Border Trade and Cooperation to be held in Kathmandu on November 28. The government has appointed Dr.
Suresh Prasad Acharya as Chief Information Commissioner, Gagan Bista and Durga Bhandari Paudel as information commissioners to the National Information Commission. The government accepted the resignation tendered by former Chief Secretary Dr. Baikuntha Aryal, who was posted to the National Planning Commission by creating a special post equivalent to Chief Secretary after he was dragged into a corruption charge.
Dr. Aryal was acquitted by the Special Court on October 31..
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Dharahara Tower to open formally for public from Sunday
By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 23: The government has decided to bring the Dharahara Tower into operation from Nove...