After the Road Division Hetauda issued a notice on 25 November with a deadline of 15 days to vacate the encroached area, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a short-term interim order in a writ petition asking the authorities to ”maintain the status quo without implementing the notice or to order it to be maintained,” but the houses and huts have been demolished since the next morning.
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531 structures were demolished on the main road of Hetauda market area on Saturday. The Division Roads Office, Hetauda, demolished the structures by using dozers from dawn to dusk.
The building housing the shop of Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City Deputy Mayor Rajesh Baniya was the first to be demolished. Half a dozen bulldozers were used to remove the structures amid tight security. The structures were demolished from Ratomate to the popular hotel in Chowkitol and from Buddha Chowk to Rapti Bridge, said Guru Prasad Adhikari, Chief of the Division Road Office, Hetauda.
There has been a long-standing dispute over the removal of structures on the right and left sides of the road. After a notice was made public stating that 'structures built encroaching on the road' would be demolished in the Hetauda market area, a writ was filed in the Supreme Court against it on 16th November. Hearing the writ, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a short-term interim order saying 'the status quo should be maintained without implementing the notice or making it remain in place' and called both parties for discussion on 16th November. The Division Road Office demolished the structures saying that it had not heard the court order and had not received a letter.
Road Department Director General Vijay Jaisi said that they have been trying to remove the structures within the boundary of the road, but they have not been able to do so earlier. ‘The Highway Act of 2021 had set the boundary of the road at 25 yards,’ he said. ‘We had been trying to remove the structures along the road boundary since the beginning, but it was being stopped due to court cases.’
According to the Road Department, 6.3 km of road from Ratomate to Buddha Chowk and Rapti Bridge along the East-West Highway had to be cleared. Similarly, the 3.2 km road from Buddha Chowk to Samari Bridge falls within the Tribhuvan Highway. ‘The road is being widened by removing the houses and towers within 9.5 km of these two highways,’ Jaisi said. According to him, there are 234 houses and towers on the right side of 25 yards and 297 houses and towers on the left side of 25 yards.
Jaisi, Director General of the Road Department, said that the work started on Saturday as the structures within the boundary of the road had to be removed sooner or later. "Now the East-West Highway will be four lanes," he said, "The bypass road will also be wider." An employee of the department said that since the bypass road is narrow, compensation should be given while expanding it, and that is why the cost will be higher. He added, "That is why they are trying to clear land within their own road boundaries, which also falls under the Asian Highway. The government cannot provide compensation for structures built by encroachment."
There has been opposition saying that the government has hastily demolished people's houses by rejecting the court order. However, department officials say that the court order has not yet reached the department, but it is heard that both parties have been called for a discussion on November 26. The chief officer of the Division Road Office claims that the legal hurdle has been removed after the Supreme Court dismissed the case filed in 2080. "The Supreme Court has clearly explained that compensation cannot be claimed for structures built within 25/25 yards from the center of the road. That has paved the way for removing encroachment," he said.
According to the department, the process of removing encroachments was started by publishing a notice on 17 Ashad 073. Later, the process was stopped after an order was received from the Supreme Court. On 10 Ashad 080, a notice was again published in the newspaper to remove encroachments. Even then, the work was stopped by the court order. The last time, on 5 Mangsir, the Road Division Hetauda issued a notice with a 15-day deadline to vacate the road boundary area.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Kulman Ghising had reached Hetauda some time ago and met the local police, administration, and people's representatives to make necessary arrangements for road expansion. The Makawanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry had met Minister Ghising and requested him to expand the road by 16 meters (17 and a half yards) and construct a bypass road.
Local Ramhari Neupane said that although they have been requesting the government not to demolish the houses, there has been no hearing. "Houses cannot be demolished like this without providing compensation," he said. Shekhar Das of Bara, who had been running a clothing store in Hetauda Bazaar for 10 years, complained that he no longer had a place to do business after his house was demolished. ‘We had come from Bara and started running a shop,’ he said, ‘The house where the shop was located was demolished. Now how will we make a living?’
Former president of Makawanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Uttam Sharma Dhakal complained that the issue of being able to build a house even if it is 25 yards away from the middle of the road is not certain. ‘It is not certain that a house can be built the day after demolition, there is no legal clarity on this. People have been misled by misleading them,’ he said, ‘In some places, as soon as 31 meters of land is cleared, a high-tension electricity line is found.’ His house was also demolished on Saturday. He said that it was unfair to demolish it like this as Hetauda Bazaar was established in 2010 before the Highway Act 2021 was passed.
Dhakal said that after the use of dozers in the market area, there was a situation where people were fleeing from their businesses. ‘This has caused many people to suffer,’ he said, ‘30/35 thousand jobs have been lost.’ The building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry was also demolished on Saturday.
Dhakal said that they are in favor of building a bypass road so that the road will be wider and the state will not be burdened with expenses. ‘We also talked to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’, he said, ‘ADB said that it will be built from wherever the state asks us to build the road.’
Former president of the Makawanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a victim, Krishna Katuwal, says that a 50-meter bypass road can be built from Rapti Bridge to Ratomate and Chowkitol. ‘750 million has been spent to build the bypass road, this road is necessary to save Hetauda Bazaar. We had given permission for this in writing from the Makawanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry,’ he said, ‘We are ready to leave 16 meters, if we leave it like this, a 32-meter road will be built.’
Katuwal also said that he is ready to give up 16 meters of land without compensation. He said that 5,000 businessmen have been displaced due to the current steps taken by the government. This road expansion has made 40 households who received land titles in 2051 landless and have become squatters again. Their residences are on the right and left sides of the highway in Hetauda 8 and 9.
According to the Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City, the owners of about 300 houses on the right and left sides of the highway had signed a memorandum stating that the state would demolish the structures they had built whenever it wanted. Only structures that had been approved by the map were signed in the memorandum. The memorandum mentions the lot number, measurement of the road area, and the area to be left when the road is expanded.
RPP Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa expressed his protest by writing a status on the social media Facebook on Saturday. "Despite the Supreme Court's order to immediately stop the road expansion, the government led by the former Chief Justice is attacking the private property of the people," he wrote. "Forcibly occupying settlements and private property legally owned by the people without compensation when there is an option for a bypass and before the highway is built is a heinous crime." He also urged the state not to falsely accuse the people of being encroachers while demolishing houses by abusing power. UML leader Krishna Prasad Dahal has made the idea of demolishing structures only after paying compensation public on Facebook. Minister Ghising said that he is ready to discuss if the locals have any complaints about the demolition of houses. "This is a work done by the Roads Department as part of its regular process," he told Kantipur. "It was demolished legally. If there is any objection, there will be a discussion."
