Kathmandu, December 25
The National Reconstruction Authority has decided to partner with respective local governments for the reconstruction of monasteries destroyed by the 2015 earthquake.
The authority says as many as 1,227 monasteries have to be reconstructed or renovated and it will cost Rs six billion. A total of 895 monasteries need a complete renovation from the foundation. Around 265 such shrines are more than 100 years old.
The authority has recently endorsed a new working guideline about the reconstruction of these Buddhist shrines, according to which the local governments and Local Monastery Development Committees have to bear 50 per cent cost whereas the federal government will shoulder the rest via the authority, informs its project Ganesh Raj Basti.
The authority says it will take initiatives on its own to reconstruct over-100-year-old monasteries. Tenders will be called for their reconstruction at the central level. The authority estimates that these structures will cost more than the others.
The monasteries have been categories into five grades in terms of the severity of the destruction to facilitate the reconstruction process.
Stakeholders have been pressing the government for an early completion of the reconstruction works citing a delay would affect various cultural and traditional rituals of the Buddhist communities.
