All three levels of government have been wasting taxpayers’ hard-earned money by earmarking over Rs 2.5 billion to erect useless view towers from the state coffer. The budget should have been, instead, used to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic at a time when the country lacks proper health care facilities, among others.
BP Anmol: Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal
Viewtower constructed in Bedkot Municupality, Kanchanpur. Photo: Mahadev Awasthi.
A 25-year-old India-returnee youth, quarantined in Narainapur — a rural municipality in Banke–died on the morning of May 17, 2020. He was suffering from diarrhea and fever from the previous night and had vomited before breathing his last breath. He died due to lack of timely treatment.
Had the youth been taken to a hospital the same night, he would have survived. But that didn’t happen owing to the unavailability of health workers in the quarantine facility, and having an ambulance standby. The ambulance arrived at the scene in the morning but it was too late. The Ministry of Health and Population confirmed that the young man passed away due to COVID-19.
But this begs the question: What led to this situation? Why was the quarantine facility without any health workers?
Consider what Maniram Kharal, Chief Administrative Officer of Rainapur Rural Municipality has to say: “The rural municipality initiated the combat against COVID-19 by raising an initial fund of Rs 1.5 million. The fund was further increased to Rs 4.5 million. 13 schools in the rural municipality have been converted into quarantine centers. Most of the funds that we collected were spent on relief.”
“We did not compromise in our effort to provide the best of service,” he said, adding, “An ambulance should have been on standby at the quarantine facility. Unfortunately, we have only one ambulance, and there are 13 quarantine centers in the rural municipality.”
Kharal says the only ambulance in the rural municipality is busy carrying other patients. “We are not in a position to do anything further. Also, the rural municipality is financially strapped,” he said.
Narainapur is just a representative case. Dozens of other rural municipalities are grappling with the pandemic.
This is clearly evident in finance minister cum government spokesperson Yubaraj Khatiwada’s iteration that it has become a challenge for the government to combat the spread of the coronavirus due to lack of resources.
Responding to queries of the members of the parliamentary Finance Committee on May 4, minister Khatiwada had said that the revenue collection was hit hard due to the new customs measures. It was also adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and that the government transferred billions from other accounts to COVID-19 response. Here, he was hinting at the severe pressure that the government was undergoing to manage revenue and resources.
All three level governments undoubtedly are under pressure. However,while many important construction projects are yet to complete, the government is happily spending budget in constructing view towers. .
View towers on high hills
The Ministry of Finance Affairs and Planning of Bagmati State government has earmarked a total of Rs 60 million in the fiscal year 2019/20 to erect view towers in 10 districts, except Kathmandu, with the slogan ‘One Hill Station, One View Tower’. The budget is being spent by the Tourism Development Project, Makawanpur. A total of Rs 50 million was allocated for the same purpose last fiscal year (2018/19).
In the fiscal year 2019/20, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of the Bagmati State government allocated Rs 20 million to build a view tower at Bhumichuli of Roshi in Kavre district. Rs 6 million was allocated for the same project in the last fiscal year.
Similarly, in the fiscal year 2018/19, the Bagmati State government allocated Rs 6 million for the construction of a view tower at Phulchoki of Godavari Municipality. The provincial government allocated Rs 10 million to construct a view tower at Sulithumka, Khadadevi-5 of Kavre district in the fiscal year 2019/20. Likewise, it earmarked Rs 15 million to construct a view tower at Siddha Baba Chucuro (hilltop) in the district.
On February 10, 2020, Bagmati State’s Minister of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Arun Nepal inaugurated a view tower and a Buddha Park at Bhumlu rural municipality-8 of Kavrepalanchowk. Chief Administrative Officer Madan Kumar Bajgain of the rural municipality says an MoU of Rs 29.6 million has been signed between the state government and the contractor to build the view tower.
The province government allocated Rs 5 million in the fiscal year 2018/19, and Rs 15 million in the fiscal year 2019/20 to construct a view tower in Toplang of Dhading district. Likewise, the provincial government allocated Rs 13.28 million in the name of erecting a view tower at Chimteswor of Nuwakot district in the fiscal year 2019/20.
Kathmandu was not an exception. Under the same project, in the fiscal year 2019/20, the state government allocated Rs 15 million to construct a view tower at Nagarjun Municipality-3 in Kathmandu. Last fiscal year, Rs 6 million was allocated for the same purpose.
The Bagmati State government allocated Rs 13 million this fiscal year (2019/20) to construct a view tower at Ghyampedanda of Bhaktapur. Last fiscal year, the provincial government had allocated Rs 10 million for the same purpose.
One and a half billion for a single project
To recall, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli reached his home-district, Jhapa to announce the construction of a view tower in Damak. Soon on July 7, 2018, he inaugurated the project at Dhukurpani-3 of Damak Municipality. Since then, the construction of the view tower has been going on.
View tower in Mangala Rural Municipality, Myagdi. Photo: Via Mangala Rural Municipality’s website. Down: The view tower being constructed in Budhiganga Municipality-4, Bajura. Photo: Krishna Oli
According to Bhupendra Kumar Yadav, an engineer at the Ministry of Urban Development, the 18-storied view tower to be built at a budget of Rs 1.56 billion allocated by the same ministry, will have another 28-meter-tall tower above it. “The contractor company ZCGIEC-Ashish-Om Sairam JV, a Chinese company, has agreed to complete the tower by January 2021,” says Yadav, adding, “20 percent of the work has been complete so far.”
The tower has been claimed to be one of the popular destinations for tourists to get a spectacular view of the places, far and near–and even further up to Biratnagar. To be constructed in the name of Kirat religious guru Falgunanda, the tower will have a business complex, cinema hall, and a seminar hall, among others.
Neighboring district of Morang is not behind, either. A 110-meter view tower is under construction in Biratnagar Metropolitan City-10. The then Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration Lal Babu Pandit, Province-1 Social Development Minister Jiwan Ghimire, and Biratnagar Mayor Bhim Parajuli have jointly laid the foundation stone of the tower.
Even though it was agreed that the view tower would be constructed with the joint efforts of the federal government, provincial government, Biratnagar Metropolis and the private sector on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the construction work is yet to gain momentum.
“The metropolitan city is yet to begin the construction as the Federal Government has not earmarked the budget for the project,” Chief Administrative Officer at the Biratnagar Metropolitan City, Ek Dev Adhikari said, adding, “The metropolitan city assembly is likely to decide soon.” The budget, however, is simply a lame excuse. In fact, the problem is due to the conflict with land (one bigha 7 kattha) at the construction site. The metropolitan city is all set to initiate the construction work as soon as the land dispute is settled.
A tower on 2,400 meter
The Bhimdutta Municipality, Kanchanpur District if the Sudurpaschhim State prepared a master plan to erect a view tower at the Jhilmila area at an estimated amount of Rs 7.8 million by fiscal year 2018/19.
Engineer at the municipality Himalaya Singh Air cites the delay in construction work of the tower as the formalities related to Environmental Impact Assessment could not be accelerated.
In the current fiscal year, a total of Rs 5 million has been allocated to construct a view tower and a Fun Park at Mahakali Municipality-4 of Kanchanpur. According to Dipendra Raj Bhatta, an engineer at the municipality, they have produced a ‘design estimation’ seeking an estimated budget of Rs 35 million from the State government.
The Bedkot Municipality has constructed a six-story view tower at the cost of Rs 7 million at Bedkot Tal area in the fiscal year 2017/18. A spokesperson at the municipality, Naresh Bahadur Singh claims the tower has been constructed at the hilltop to have an overall view of the Bedkot Tal area.
The view tower to be constructed by the Tourism Department at Kampasedhura of Godavari Municipality-4 in Kailali is likely to seek an additional budget to complete the tower. A total of Rs 20 million has already been allocated for the same. However, with the start of the foundation work, an additional Rs 2.5 million has been earmarked in the current fiscal year following an agreement on May 17, 2019. Initially estimated to be completed at Rs 17 million, it has been estimated that the budget will increase by another 25 percent to complete the project.
Likewise, the provincial Tourism Development Program Implementation Unit has allocated Rs 1 million for the construction of a view tower at Kailari rural municipality-1 of Kailali district in the current fiscal year.
The New Urban Project under the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction has erected a view tower at Ramite of Phidim in Panchthar Municipality-2 at a total budget of Rs 30 million 9 hundred 37 thousand. The view tower, completed on December 14, 2019, has restaurants, drinking water and toilets, according to project chief engineer Anupam Bhattarai.
Likewise, a 35-feet view tower has been constructed at a height of 2,400 meters from the sea-level at Jhakripani of Mangala rural municipality in Myagdi at the cost of Rs 2.7 million. According to the rural municipality’s sub-engineer Bipin Acharya, while the rural municipality allocated Rs 1.1 million, another Rs 1 million was used from the MP’s Development Fund and Rs 600,000 from people’s donation.
Rs 190 million in Rokpa and Rupandehi
Rolpa, once a Maoist hotbed and a district of inception of the insurgency, is considered backward both socially and economically. Interestingly, 25 years after the inception of the Maoist insurgency, a nine-storied view tower is being erected at a hilltop at Satdobato of Rolpa municipality-3 at an estimated cost of Rs 60 million. According to the municipality’s engineer Nim Prasad Sharma, the view tower being erected at a height of some 2,050 meters from the sea-level is expected to be completed at the cost of Rs 63 million. Two floors of the tower have been completed.
The Federal government has, so far, allocated Rs 10 million 600,000 from its complementary project and Rs 10 million from its revenue distribution section for the tower construction. Likewise, the municipality has allocated Rs 5.58 million in the current fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the eighth floor of the 11-storied view tower being constructed at Tilottama Municipality of Rupandehi since fiscal year 2017/18 has been completed. According to Mayor Basudev Ghimire, the tower will be completed by this December at the total cost of Rs 135.8 million. Ghimire informs that the 135-tall view tower will have a hotel, restaurant, departmental store, library and business stalls.
The Nijgadh Municipality-4 of Bara has erected a view tower at the Sahid (Martyr) Hiralal Park by taking a concessional loan of Rs 6 million from Municipality Development Fund. According to Navin Khanal, a technician at the municipality, the 35-feet tall tower has been erected in the community forest area.
The Kohalpur Municipality of Banke has constructed a 140-feet tall view tower at the Dasbigha area by investing around Rs 70.8 million. According to the municipality’s engineer Madhav Joshi, the foundation of the 10-storied tower was completed last year by investing Rs 12 million in the joint investment of the Kohalpur Municipality and the Kohalpur Municipal Development Committee. The tower will have escalators, a departmental store, coffee shops, among others.
Karnali to Solukhumbu
A view tower is being erected at the Latikoili of Birendranagar municipality-9 of Surkhet, Karnali province. The 60-feet tall tower is being constructed at an estimated budget of Rs 15.3 million to be allocated by the ward, according to ward chairperson Suresh Manandhar.
Up: A view tower under construction in Dhukurpani in Damak Municipality-3, Damak. Photo: bhupendra Yadav. down: View tower being constructed in Fidim Municipality-2, Panchthar. Photo: Anup Bhattarai
Likewise, the Ministry Industry, Forest and Tourism of the province has allocated budget to erect the ‘Watching Fire View Tower’ being constructed atop a hillock at Deuti community forest area, Birendranagar Municipality-11. According to ward chairperson Nanda Lal Sharma, people can have a magnificent view of the area from the tower. Moreover, he claims that the tower can be useful to ‘detect’ wildfires.
The provincial government has allocated Rs 4.5 million this fiscal year for the construction of the tower. The foundation was completed last year with an amount of Rs 800,000.
Similarly, the provincial government’s Ministry of Industry, Forest and Tourism and Environment has spent Rs 2 million to construct a view tower at the Bhotechuli of Surkhet.
The Province-1 Ministry of Industry, Forest and Tourism and Environment has allocated Rs 5 million to construct a ‘Sagarmatha View Tower’ at Solu Dudhkunda Municipality-8 in Solukhumbu.
Likewise, it has allocated Rs 5 million for the construction of a view tower at Dembadanda of Panchthar.
The Province-1 government has also allocated Rs. 3 million at Buditham of Phidim Municipality of Panchthar and Rs 5 million for the construction of view tower at Miklajung of the same district.
Likewise, the Province-1 government has allocated Rs 10 million to erect a view tower at Malinge of Champadevi rural municipality-5 in Okhaldhunga, and Rs 3 million for a view tower at Buddhashanti in Jhapa district. Likewise, Rs 5 million has been allocated to construct a view tower at Tinthumki of Mangsebung in Ilam, and Rs 5 million for erecting the tower at Chindedanda of Dharan.
A view tower is under construction at the Barjukot Durbar area of Budiganga Municipality in Bajura. Being constructed at an altitude of some 1,700 meters, the tower is said to be a place of tourist attraction to get an overall view of the Budiganga and Tribeni Municipality. The Sudurpaschim State government has allocated Rs 5 million for the construction of the tower.
Economist Keshav Acharya expresses astonishment over the construction of view towers in a country like Nepal where one can have a spectacular view from the natural hills and high altitude places. “Construction of view towers in every municipality does not make any sense. The local authorities should have rather focused on the construction of parks, zoos, and stadiums,” says Acharya, alleging the authorities for being ignorant on important issues as they believe erecting towers on hilltops would attract visitors.
Interestingly, there was no integrated data of the number and places of view towers being erected with the budget of the Federal Government, Provincial Governments and 753 local levels. When analyzed the available data, local levels in the mountainous region seem less interested in erecting view towers. Local levels and provincial governments in the hilly region and the Terai were in the race to construct view towers.
Questions arise: Why is this happening? Why is the local level, and provincial and the federal government hell-bent on exhausting the budget? Says anthropologist Suresh Dhakal, “This is the result of a poor mindset that erecting physical structures is an indicator of development. Moreover, this is an act of emulation that will end up in adversities.”
Dhakal smells rat while draining out the budget in such an unproductive sector as a game of commission by jumping on the bandwagon in the name of attracting visitors.
This act on the part of the local levels, provincial governments and the federal government is seen as a spasmodic affair that ultimately will lead to astray.
Abandon erecting towers; focus on pandemic
Going back to Narainapur, a hotbed of coronavirus virus in the country, this rural municipality on May 23 drew the attention of the federal government for the latter’s support for resources to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Local-level governments of the Sudurpaschim State have urged the Federal Government to provide necessary resources in its fight against the deadly coronavirus.
However, the Federal Government, which has been prolonging the lockdown in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus, too, has been complaining of lack of resources, relief materials, and treatment facilities. A total of Rs 2 billion has been accumulated in the government’s coronavirus fund so far.
Unfortunately, more than this, the budget is being drained away in the name of construction of view towers. The question is: Can’t the amount allocated for construction of view towers be used in controlling the coronavirus pandemic and treating coronavirus patients?
Anthropologist Suresh Dhakal believes that the allocated budget in unproductive areas can be diverted toward emergencies and the health sector.
“The concept of construction of view towers is itself unproductive. The budget, instead, had to be diverted to some other sectors,” says Dhakal, adding, “Now that the budget can be used for controlling the pandemic that has gripped the country. Instead of deducting the salary of government employees, the budget allocated in unproductive sectors can be utilized in the health and agriculture sectors.”
Echoing Dhakal’s views, infrastructure expert Surya Raj Acharya terms this a ‘wrong practice’. Such practice has to be totally discouraged, he says, adding, “Spending budget in the unproductive sector is a mere waste of people’s tax.” He views that view towers should not get a place in the government’s policy and programs. “The budget needs to be spent in productive sectors,” opines Acharya.
Former finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal, too, emphasizes on allocating budget in productive sectors, including employment generation, agriculture infrastructure, among other sectors. “The upcoming budget needs to focus on this,” says Kharal.
