Missing land use plan after squatter evictions

Riverbank squatter removal will fail to serve its purpose without a proper land use plan.

Less than a month after the formation of the government, the Balendra Shah administration, on April 25, launched a drive to evict squatters living on encroached riverbank land. The campaign, which continued for more than two weeks before the Supreme Court intervened and ordered a halt, received mixed reactions. The government defended the move, saying it was intended to reclaim the encroached land, provide proper housing to genuine landless people, and convert the reclaimed areas into parks. Inside the Kathmandu valley, a total of 2,687 structures along the Bagmati, Manohara and Dhobikhola river corridors were demolished, reclaiming acres of land. However, weeks after the illegal structures were reduced to rubble by bulldozers and excavators, no steps have been taken to utilise the reclaimed land.