KALIKOT: Mahawai Rural Municipality in the district has laid the foundation stone for its new administrative building.

The foundation-laying ceremony for the main administrative building was held on Saturday at Kotkhaul in Mahawai-7.

Having operated its services from a temporarily rented house for a long time, the rural municipality has accelerated the process of constructing a well-equipped administrative structure.

Prakash Shahi, the engineer of the rural municipality, informed that the new building will be two and a half stories high with 32 rooms.

“A contract agreement was signed with the construction company on April 28 last year with a total project cost of Rs. 55,184,000, and work has already commenced on site. According to the contract, the building construction must be completed and handed over to the rural municipality by June 29, 2027,” he said.

According to Engineer Shahi, the building is being constructed through a joint partnership between the federal and local governments. He informed that the Department of Local Infrastructure Development under the federal government will fund 60 percent of the project, while Mahawai Rural Municipality will cover the remaining 40 percent.

Khem Bahadur Singh, Chairperson of the rural municipality, expressed confidence that the service delivery provided by the local body will become more organized, effective, and user-friendly once the administrative building is complete.

“The building will be constructed to a high-quality standard within the stipulated timeframe,” he stated. “The construction of our own administrative building will be a significant achievement for the institutional development and promotion of good governance in the rural municipality.”

Dan Singh Sejuwal, Vice-Chairperson of the rural municipality, noted that upon completion of the building, citizens will be able to access hassle-free local government services from a single location.

He expressed optimism that the challenges previously faced in service delivery due to the lack of an official building will now be permanently resolved.