The houses built by encroaching on public land in the main market area of ​​Butwal are to be removed. The Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City has sent an information letter to the concerned ward office, directing it to issue public notices to the owners of the houses built by encroaching on public land.

A week ago, the Sub-Metropolitan City, which used a dozer on the encroached land of the Tulsipur Butwal High Court Bench located on Durbar Marg near JC Chowk in Butwal, has started the process of identifying and clearing the encroached areas within the city. The meeting of the Sub-Metropolitan City on Baisakh 15 concluded that there was encroachment in five different places in the city and decided to clear those areas.

In accordance with the same decision, the Sub-Metropolitan City has already written to Wards 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 for the implementation of the decision. The ward offices have been instructed to identify the encroached areas within their areas and submit details within three days.

According to the decision of the meeting, in the first phase, the land of the former Shobha Boarding School in Ward 4, the area from Shravan Path to Gauri Medical Hall in Ward 8 and from Milan Chowk to Sundar Chowk to the building of the Construction Entrepreneurs' Association, the encroached land of Siddheshwori Secondary School in Ward 7 and the structures built within the parameters of the famous 16/36 culverts of Butwal will be removed.

A committee has been formed under the coordination of the concerned ward chairperson to remove the structures in the identified places. Arrangements have been made to have the heads of various branches, the legal officer, the surveying branch chief and the city police inspector as members of the committee, while the officer of the land management branch has been given the responsibility of member secretary, said Butwal Sub-metropolitan City Spokesperson Shiva Rana. ‘We have now moved forward with the process to fully implement the executive decision of Baisakh 15,’ he said, ‘after that, we will identify additional areas and take a decision.’ He said that a campaign has been launched to remove encroached public land, river canals and houses built by encroaching. The sub-metropolitan city will issue a notice to remove the structures within a time limit in all areas. He said that dozers will be used if they are not removed within that time.

In the first phase, preparations are being made to issue a notice to vacate the church built on the land where Shobha Boarding is located in Ward 4 within seven days. After that, 35 days will be given to remove the structures falling within the road standards in Ward 8. The municipality has stated that preparations are being made to instruct to vacate the land in the Buddhanagar and Rangshala Marg areas of Ward 11 within seven days.

Protests against this move of the government have also begun. Unorganized settlers and squatters in various districts have warned of agitation. Locals in Sundar Nagar, Majuwa, Hattisudh, Buddhanagar and Tinau-Danav Corridor areas of Butwal have formed a struggle committee and declared a movement.