I spent the
morning yesterday photographing at Civil Homes, Phase III, a housing colony in
Sunakothi. Access to photograph within the property would not have been
possible without Mr. Chakra Man Shrestha and my old friend Niraj Lamsal, who
are both residents there. I am grateful to them both.
Mr. Shrestha is a
semi-retired lawyer and has been living at Civil Homes Phase III for the past
five years. He lives there with his wife, his son and daughter in law. His
daughter lives in Texas. Mr. Shrestha and his family sold their old house in
Anamnagar before moving here. He is originally from Sindhuli (central Nepal).
Mr. Shrestha
informed me that the housing colony has a swimming pool,
departmental store, parking, parks and children’s playground. He mentioned that
most of the residents come from higher spectrum of the Nepali society and many
are doctors, engineers, lawyers and judges. He told me he is very happy living there.
He mentioned that there are security personnel on 24-hour watch. So there is no
worry of theft or burglary. He said, unlike other parts of Kathmandu there is
24-hour drinking water facility. I was told that the company extracts water
from groundwater and the water is treated and even tested at Nepal Academy of
Science and Technology (NAST) for drinkability. The company (Civil Homes) has
guaranteed that the water supply will last for a minimum of 50 years. He
further mentioned that there are less chances for neighbourly squabbles as each
property’s compounds are well defined and also the residents are well-established
people who know how to deal with neighbourly situations. Mr. Shrestha did
mention load shedding (power outage) does apply here, but the company has a
generator and provides electricity for all street lamps. However, each home has
to supply alternative electricity resources during power outage. Mr. Shrestha
informed that there are five different styles of houses within the colony and
each comes in different price brackets. He mentioned that the value of his
house has more than doubled from the time he bought it five years ago.
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| Mr. Chakra Man Shrestha in his living room |
On the way out, I
stopped by at the Sales Office and inquired on property prices. I was told that the prices range from 5
aana* property, which costs around Rupees 1.24 Karod (US $141,632) and 7.5 anna
costs around Rs. 2 Karod (US $225, 626). The company has also begun development
of more affordable housing and they are calling it Colony I in the adjacent
lot. For these, the costs range from Rs. 77 Lakhs (US $ 86,902) for 1.4 aana and
Rs. 1.3 Karod for 4.5 anna.
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| Surprisingly it cleared up in the morning and the Himalayas were visible |
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