The deadline for the reconstruction of Gorkha Durbar draws near, with only three months remaining, but the contractor company has little to show. The only work that has been done is the laying of foundation and installation of the palace’s door frame.

The palace was badly damaged in the 2015 earthquake. The reconstruction of the durbar, a historic palace of the Shah kings, was initiated by the Pachali Siwa JV Construction on December 17, 2017. The contractor company spent 22 months constructi Upreng the foundation of the palace. As per the contract, the company should complete the reconstruction by mid-December this year.

But only 20 percent of the construction work has completed so far, said Sushil Babu Shrestha, a representative of the contractor company. The company could not work in accordance with the agreement, as the concerned authority changed the design of the palace multiple times, Shrestha said.

“It took around five months to demolish the old structure, and the archaeologists took several months to study the foundation of the palace,” said Shrestha. “There was also a shortage of timbers during the reconstruction.”

According to the contractor company, it plans to complete the construction of the palace by mid-March 2020. Currently, 20 to 22 workers are commissioned to work in the palace regularly, said Shrestha.

The palace with historical, archaeological and religious importance was built by Ram Shah, well known for his judicial reforms, in 1666 BS. Hari Bhusal, chief at the Gorkha Durbar Herchaha Adda, the government office that oversees the maintenance of the palace, said the contractor company will take nine more months to complete the four-storey palace.

“The construction work has only gathered momentum since August,” said Bhusal.

Prakash Thapa of Namjung, who came to visit the palace recently, said with the ongoing construction work, it is difficult for visitors to move around the palace area.