Kathmandu, May 26: The Office of the Auditor General has directed the Shree Bouddhanath Area Development Committee to properly preserve records related to its annual research and studies conducted in the Bouddhanath area in Kathmandu.
According to the 63rd Annual Report of the Auditor General, the Committee has not maintained a systematic archive of research materials related to the social, economic, cultural and archaeological aspects of Buddhism within the Bouddhanath area, which houses the Bouddhanath Stupa, one of the most ancient, largest and magnificent stupas in the Kathmandu Valley.
The Committee, under the Section 4 of the Committee Formation Order, 2053 BS, is mandated to protect social, economic, cultural and archaeological heritage associated with Buddhism in the Bouddhanath Stupa area.
The report pointed out that although the Committee conducts annual research and study programmes on tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage in the area, it has failed to establish a mechanism to preserve these materials digitally through archives or by other scientific methods.
Amidst this, the Office of the Auditor General has instructed the Committee to properly manage and securely preserve such records and documents.
The report also noted ongoing disputes between the Committee and the Buddha and Melamchi Ghyang Guthi regarding the management of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Bouddhanath area.
Due to longstanding disagreements between the Guthi, which operates under the Guthi Sansthan of the Ministry of Land Management and the Committee under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, proper development of heritage sites in the Bouddhanath area has been impeded.
As a result, infrastructures capable of attracting more foreign tourists have not been adequately developed in this area situated eight kilometres to the east of downtown Kathmandu district.
