The demolition of nearly four-decade old Pokhara Stadium parapet started on Wednesday with an objective of constructing “well-equipped” international standard arena.

The stadium was badly damaged by the 2015 April earthquake and was deemed risky by engineers to hosts any events. Western Regional Sports Development Committee (WRSDC) have initiated the demolition job after the supreme sports governing body of Nepal National Sports Council (NSC) recently issued a global tender to construct and international standard stadium.

According to WRSDC, the demolition will facilitate the bidders who earn the rights to build the new stadium. The WRSDC office chief Prakash Baral informed that the Consumers Committee has  been tasked to demolish the parapet for Rs 4.4 million. “The Committee will demolish and clear debris within a month,” claimed Baral.

The stadium which came into operation in 1983 and currently has two parapets—ordinary and VIP. Nepal is planning to host the 2019 South Asian Games (SAG) and the NSC has allocated seven events for the stadium. Keeping in mind the SAG, NSC has selected six construction companies to construct the stadium through global tender. Among the selected construction companies are Chinese, India, French and joint ventures.

 “Since we are running out of time to host the SAG, we are speeding up the process,” said WRSDC president Khagaraj Paudel. “The initial costs of the 30,000-capacity arena is Rs 850 million but it could soar up to Rs 1.50 billion depending on the design of contractors,” said Paudel. The detailed project report (DPR) for the stadium was prepared by ND Engineering Consultancy. The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) has allocated Rs 170 million for the fiscal year 2017-18 through WRSDC taking into consideration the DPR report of the ND Consultancy.

Paudel informed that all the bidders must ensure the use of international standard material for the construction. The stadium is spread across 417 ropanis of land which currently have separate courts for volleyball, basketball and lawn tennis besides covered hall, archery and cricket grounds.