Security personnel surrounded illegal settlement in Kathmandu, anti-encroachment campaign started

Kathmandu. In Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, a large number of police forces have been deployed around the illegal settlement on the banks of Bagmati River to free the government land from encroachers.

The government has been warning the people living in the illegal settlement for two consecutive days to vacate the place. The government said that the landless have been identified and temporary housing arrangements have been made for them.

Security personnel arrived here this morning with a dozer. Yesterday the local people had pelted stones in protest. Many security personnel were injured in stone pelting. Yesterday, Kathmandu Municipal Corporation had driven dozers in the illegal settlements of Thapathali and Gahrigaon. Today there is a plan to remove the colony of Manohara.

Along with eviction of illegal settlements on the banks of Bagmati river, the ‘screening’ (compilation of details) process has also been started to identify the genuine Sukum residents.

The government plans to identify genuine Sukum residents and provide them long-term housing after going through past data and the ongoing ‘screening’ process.

Urban Development Ministry spokesperson Narayan Prasad Mainali said that in the first phase the actual landless will be identified and after that their long-term housing arrangements will be decided. Permanent accommodation and land will be arranged for the landless in Kathmandu or in the respective districts convenient for them.

He said, “On the basis of past data and the ongoing ‘screening’, we will identify the landless. We will collect their details up to three generations and find out the real situation. After this, we will make arrangements to settle the genuine Sukum residents in the valley or at any place in the concerned district convenient for them.”