Nepal’s quake-ravaged Singha Durbar opens after reconstruction and restoration

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Nepal's main administrative complex Singha Durbar, which was heavily ravaged in the 2015 devastating earthquakes, came into operation again on Monday after the completion of most of the reconstruction works.</p>
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The complex had housed the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Defence and the National Planning Commission of Nepal for decades before being devastated by the 2015 earthquakes.</p>
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Some 9,000 people were killed and 22,000 others injured in the twin devastating earthquakes on April 25 and May 12, 2015 in Nepal, Xinhua reported.</p>
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Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli inaugurated the use of the restored areas of Singha Durbar, whose western part is still being reconstructed.</p>
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"Singha Durbar isn't just the main administrative complex, it is also a historically important site of the country," he said during the inauguration.</p>
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"The effort to bring the same building into operation after a retrofitting is commendable."</p>
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The government had decided to reconstruct the neo-classical structure built in 1908 instead of demolishing it for its archeological value.</p>
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Sushil Gyewali, Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, said that restoration of the Singha Durbar is an important achievement of the reconstruction drive after the 2015 earthquakes.</p>
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"The building has been retrofitted using new modern technology keeping the fundamental structure, style and its antique value intact," he told Xinhua.</p>
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The Nepali government has spent about 7.4 million dollars so far in rebuilding the 12,461 square meter structure.</p>
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Completing the remaining western area of the complex is expected to cost an additional 4.07 million dollars.</p>
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Gyewali said the reconstruction of over 90 per cent of the earthquake-damaged 796,245 private houses and a majority of the 7,553 school buildings and hundreds of other public structures, religious and cultural sites destroyed in the 2015 earthquakes have so far been completed.</p>
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(<em>IANS</em>)</p>