Nepal govt demolishes 2,000 illegal structures, opposition furious over 'insensitivity'

Kathmandu: Continuing its demolition drive, the Nepal government on Saturday razed hundreds of illegal structures along riverbanks in parts of Kathmandu Valley, while the opposition urged the authorities to be sensitive to the affected people.

So far, 2,000 squatter settlements, including concrete buildings, built on riverbanks, public and government land have been demolished.

The demolition of illegal structures was carried out in Swoyambhu, Balaju and Dhovikhola areas of Kathmandu. Thousands of security personnel were deployed for the drive.

On Friday, illegal structures built at Teku and Balkhu were demolished while last week, the authorities bulldozed structures at Thapathali, Gairigaun and Manohara areas of the capital.

The government has come under severe criticism from the opposition for not showing sensitivity and giving adequate time for the landless squatters to remove their belongings.

They also accused the government of mismanagement at holding centres and lack of proper alternative arrangements for the affected people.

The authorities have also been criticised for not collecting the data of the actual landless settlers before the drive.

Parliament member and Nepali Congress leader Arjun Narsingh K C said although the government campaign was necessary for the beautification of the urban areas and environment protection, its implementation has come under scrutiny from a humanitarian, legal and social perspective.

"The biggest question is displacement without alternatives," he said.

"Using bulldozers on citizens who have lived in landless and impoverished conditions for years without ensuring alternative housing is not merely administrative harshness, it is also a failure of the compassionate and humane duty of a sensitive state," he added.

CPN-UML general secretary Shankar Pokharel said the government should have informed the landless squatters before conducting the demolitions.

He said if the government is not able to rehabilitate thousands of displaced landless squatters before the monsoon, it would create a grave humanitarian crisis.

Gen Z activist Raksha Bam advised Prime Minister Balendra Shah to show "sympathy" and "compassion".

She said in the country where the Buddha was born, the government should come out of "egoistic knowledge" and fulfil the people's responsibility on the basis of sympathy and compassion.

Meanwhile, an elderly man residing in the landless squatters settlement in Balkhu, allegedly died by suicide after his temporary house was bulldozed on Friday.

The police found the body of the man in the bank of Bagmati river.

Santa Bahadur, a landless squatter, who is currently at a holding centre at Kirtipur, told an online newsportal that after his house was demolished in Thapathali, he was taken to the temporary settlement on Wednesday.

"The security guard didn't permit us to go outside for work and the relatives who want to meet us are also finding it difficult to enter the shelter.

"As a labourer I have to go out for work for my family but the security guard didn't allow to leave the shelter," he said.