Kathmandu, Oct. 6 -- Three months ago, when officials at the National Vigilance Centre arrived at the lab set up in an underground area of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, they found rainwater flooding the basement.

Officials said the equipment purchased by the centre at a cost of nearly 10 million rupees was nearly damaged. A weekend rainfall in July had resulted in the flooding of the lab.

"They lab equipment remained safe because they had been kept on a higher surface. Had there been one more holiday, the equipment would have been useless," said Dal Nath Aryal, assistant spokesperson for the Vigilance Centre.

The centre, under the Prime Minister's Office, monitors irregularities at the hands of government servants and recommen...