Nawalparasi, Aug 30: The view tower constructed at a cost of Rs 6.8 million in Kawasoti of Bardaghat Susta East has become abandoned for want to a body to supervise and operate it. The 60 feet high tower was completed three years ago.
Without care, steel bars of the tower have been stolen, while the View Tower has become a center for alcoholics and smokers. “At present, the steel fence installed on the view tower has been cut and taken away. The plaster of the walls has come off and garbage has been thrown here and there. The ground has also started to crack,” said Jitu Maya Rana, a local resident.
The tower was initially expected to attract tourists, thus benefiting the local people in various ways, boosting economic activities and income of the locals.
“Without a body to operate it, there is deformity, and it risks walking around here,” she said.
“Groups of people who consume alcohol have started coming late at night, sometimes even during the day when they walk with sticks, even the local children are afraid.”
Tabarak Ahmad Miya, the ward chair of Kawasoti-1, said that even though the view tower is not operational, more than 100 domestic tourists visit it every day. “I am taking an initiative to operate the view tower in an orderly manner immediately.”
After a landslide eroded the plan near the view tower, the municipality started building a ‘compound wall’ in the fiscal year, 2079/80 BS by allocating Rs 1 million. Rs 1 million has been allocated for the construction of the compound wall in the current FY, 2081/82 BS, said mayor Bishnu Prasad Bhusal, adding that Kawasoti Municipality has prioritised the view tower management and regular operation.
“From this year, we are holding a discussion on operating it under the supervision of the ward office and the locals”, he said, “We will address some of the problems as soon as possible.”
