The government has made no effort to restore the historic Gorkha Durbar, which was damaged by the April 2015 earthquake.

Rameshwor Kattel, who works for Gorkha Durbar Herchaha Adda, the government office that oversees the maintenance of the 300-year-old palace, said most of the buildings and structures inside the palace complex have cracks on them and they could collapse any time.

“The Nepal Engineers’ Association had inspected Gorkha Durbar after the earthquake and suggested restoring the damaged structures immediately. It’s been nearly 18 months since the earthquake and nothing has been repaired yet,” Kattel said. The earthquake has caused an extensive damage to the main palace block, compound walls and some of the temples. Visitors have been barred entry because it is too risky a venture. The palace temple priests and authorised personnel are the only persons who are allowed inside.   

“We are risking our lives everyday,” said one of the priests whose duty is to offer daily prayers to the deities housed inside some of the crumbling shrines.  

The government has not made any plan to restore Gorkha Durbar, Kattel said. 

“We have already sent a report, including the details of destruction to the Department of Archeology, but there has been no response. We have no budget to repair the damaged structures on our own.”