Businessmen say that land prices have fallen due to the formation of local levels in villages after the country's federal structure, the spread of COVID-19, and low remittances. Land that was sold for 200,000 rupees per hand from 2064 to 2070 is now becoming difficult to trade.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Until 2062, there was a deep gorge with Guntekhola bushes between Sandhikharka and Hallain-Buspark Bazaar. There was a narrow path to travel between the two big markets of the district headquarters, Sandhikharka and Chutraveshi-Halline. Where the gorge, which was scary to walk alone, was cleared by Sandhikharka businessman Baburam Sunar using a dozer to uproot the gorge bushes and bamboo. After buying private land at a cheap price and leveling it, he started selling it in pieces.
After the then District Development Committee Chairman Ganesh Thapa built the road connecting Sandhikharka Media Chowk and Hallain, the land became level everywhere, and after the peace process in the country, the price of Ghaderi reached a different level in the plotting done by Sunar.
Sunar said that more than 100 Ghaderi were sold in a one-kilometer-long valley. ‘It was a deep and scary valley with bushes and jungle, but after it was filled and leveled, it has now become Guntekhola Bazaar,’ he said, ‘I bought some land and improved it, and many other people’s lands have become Ghaderi.’
The previous valley has now become a road and a square. The well and the Kiriyaputri area above Guntekhola have been organized. ‘I filled a one-kilometer-long valley and sold Ghaderi for up to two to two and a half lakh rupees, after the peace process, there was a wave of buying Ghaderi,’ Sunar said, ‘After the federal structure of the country, the formation of local levels in the villages, the spread of COVID-19, and the decrease in remittances, the price of land went down. I sold the Ghaderi, which was sold for Rs 200,000 per hand from 2064 to 2070, last year I barely sold it for Rs 80,000 per hand.’
In Sandhikharka, the price of a ropani was once Rs 20 million. Land traders say that the price of Ghaderi has now fallen by 60 percent. Many people who have saved money from remittances and earnings from various professions and businesses have turned to investing in Ghaderi rather than opening industries and factories.
Baburam Bhusal, who is among those who buy and plot cultivable land, hills, and valleys, has been plotting cultivable land in places such as Masal Bazaar, around Bangi Khola, and Sandhikharka Kundule Phat. Many Ghaderi in Kundule Phat have not been sold yet. The prices of those Ghaderi have fallen by more than 70 percent.
Bhusal said that the business of the businessman who made land business his profession from 2064 to 2075 is now almost zero. ‘We purchased unorganized land and arranged for systematic settlement,’ he said. ‘After the land purchase and sale went up, we leveled all the gullies, chidi, and pakhobari and marketed them. Now the situation has changed.’
‘The remittances collected during the ten-year conflict, domestic earnings, and the desire to enter the city have made the price of houses high,’ said Pradeep Mishra, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. ‘Houses and houses alone did not create employment, and after federalization, the district headquarters became deserted. Corona also had a big impact.’ According to him, both trade and business have decreased now.
Since it is a district connected to the Terai, the first choice for migration from here is towards Butwal, Kapilvastu, and Dang, Mishra said. ‘Those who have money choose houses and houses in the Terai rather than in the district headquarters,’ he said.
The hills and slopes around the district headquarters, fields and fields have been leveled and turned into markets through plotting. Ashok Shrestha, president of the Chutraveshi Chamber of Commerce, said that the market has changed in the decade since the peace process. He mentioned that the number of people building houses has decreased significantly.
According to the Land Revenue Office, land purchase and sale in the district headquarters is sporadic. Even though the price has decreased, the turnover is low. The number of people who have approved maps to build new houses in Sandhikharka Municipality is also very low now.
