The file was sent to the ministry after the victims of 14 households who had not received compensation continuously staged sit-ins, pressured, and protested at the Railway Department.
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The railway work in Bardibas, the junction of both the North-South and East-West railways, has been halted due to a land compensation dispute. The railway station in Bardibas has not been built due to the delay in the process of providing compensation to about 14 houses.
The railway line from Jayanagar to Bhangaha has been constructed and put into operation with the assistance of the Indian government. Construction on the railway line from Bhangaha to Bardibas has been stalled due to non-payment of compensation. About 70 to 80 million rupees are yet to be paid as compensation to 14 houses.
The Railway Department has sent a file to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport this week to provide compensation to 14 houses in Bardibas. Uddhav Budhathoki of Bardibas said that the file was finally sent to the ministry after the victims of the 14 houses who have not received compensation continuously staged sit-ins, pressured and agitated at the Railway Department.
‘Even though the compensation file has reached the ministry, there is a delay,’ said Budhathoki, ‘There is hope that the compensation will be received soon. However, it seems that it will be delayed again.’
Hari Kumar Pokharel, Director General of the Railway Department, said that the compensation file has reached the ministry.
The department has started the process of distributing compensation for the houses and huts of farmers in Bardibas, Kisannagar, and Bhangaha areas of Mahottari and is preparing to include the remaining 14 houses in the same process. Janaki Shahi of Bardibas said that she hopes to receive compensation for the houses and huts even though it has been a long time.
Ambika Adhikari, 90, who is waiting for compensation, also said that a solution will be found soon regarding the land and compensation. ‘Since the compensation has not been received, the damaged house has not even been repaired,’ she said.
The then Minister for Physical Infrastructure, Kulman Ghising, had decided to appoint a preliminary officer and included the distribution of compensation in the 100-day agenda. However, the Railway Department was unable to proceed with the necessary work related to land as the ministry had not sent the relevant file to the Railway Department.
The work of demarcating the boundaries of the land acquired by the railways had also been stalled due to the absence of a preliminary officer in the department. Khadga Bahadur Singh, a farmer from Bardibas, said that due to the lack of necessary coordination between the Railway Department and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, even minor compensation and correction of technical errors have been delayed for years.
Singh alleges that the previous Director General of the department, Ajay Mul, spent his one-year tenure by forming a team to study compensation and solve other problems.
Director General of the department, Pokharel, said that the people of Bardibas are hopeful as he took the initiative for compensation from scratch and submitted the file to the ministry. The file related to compensation of farmers in the Lalgarh area of Dhanusha is still under consideration at the Railway Department.
