Hotel Landmark Pokhara
Hotels and restaurants of Pokhara have not suffered any damage due to the earthquake of April 25.
Tourism entrepreneurs of the lake city say all hotels, ranging from five-star to tourist standard, are safe. Bharat Raj Parajuli, president of Paschimanchal Hotel Association Pokhara (PHAP), said the association has not received report of physical damage suffered by hotels in Pokhara so far. “Though the lakeside area wars a deserted look as there are not tourists, our hotels and restaurants are safe,” he added.There are around 400 hotels in the lakeside area. Among them, 300 hotels are affiliated with PHAP.
Following the earthquake, PHAP had asked its member hotels to submit report of physical damages caused by the earthquake. It has also directed its members to make assessment of the hotel structures from engineers.
“All our member hotels have already made physical assessment of their structures. None of the hotels have reported any damage. So we have concluded that all hotels here are safe,” he added.
Engineer Rijan Poudel, who made assessment of more than a dozen hotels, said he found no problem in structures of the hotels that he assessed. “I can say that these hotels are perfectly safe,” he added. “Even tall buildings are safe to stay.”
Hotel Landmark Pokhara
Sharada Mohan Kafle, an engineer with Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan Office, also said they have found no problem in hotel buildings. “Some big hotels have submitted applications to us, seeking our help for technical assessment of their buildings. Our engineers have not found any problem in buildings that they have assessed so far,” he added.
Tourism entrepreneurs say tourists will not have to worry about hotel buildings. “All the hotels in Pokhara are safe. Thus we have invited tourists to come here and stay without any tension,” Ganesh Bahadur Bhattarai, coordinator of Pokhara Tourism Recovery Committee, said.
source: Republica
