July 2: The Supreme Court has directed the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to prepare and implement internationally approved criteria for every kind of construction work.

A division bench of justices Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Bom Kumar Shrestha issued the verdict noting irregularities in the criteria for construction of private and public structures. According to the court order, “It has become necessary to review the current criteria of construction work and adopt internationally accredited code of conduct for construction and effectively implement it.”

The Supreme Court had issued the court order in response to a writ petition filed by engineer and advocate Dinesh Chaudhary claiming that most of the buildings of Kathmandu and other places were partially or fully damaged by the earthquake because of weak structures and lack of implementation of internationally accredited construction criteria.

Currently, Building Act, 2055 and Engineering Council Act, 2055 are being implemented in Nepal. The writ petition has mentioned the ineffective implementation of these acts. The effective implementation of the laws was demanded in the writ petition.