Industrial Land Encroachments Ordered Removed in Rupandehi and Banke

Butwal. The central office of the Industrial Area Management Limited, Balaju, Kathmandu, has directed the removal of encroached settlements and structures within the Motipur Industrial Area in Rupandehi and Naubasta Industrial Area in Banke.

The central office sent letters to the offices of the Butwal and Naubasta industrial areas, stating that the process should be advanced in coordination with district-level bodies to remove the disorganized settlements built on land owned by the company. It has also been instructed to regularly send progress reports on land clearing to the center.

The federal government had initiated the process of establishing industrial areas in Motipur, Rupandehi, and Naubasta, Banke, with the aim of expanding industrial areas in various parts of the country since 2072 BS. Project implementation has been delayed due to land disputes, encroachment, and other reasons.

The Motipur Industrial Area has 813 bighas of land in the name of the Limited. Of these, work has been ongoing recently to expand the industrial area on approximately 260 bighas of vacant land. According to Deepak Acharya, chief of the Butwal Industrial Area Management Office, a letter has been received to remove encroachments within the entire 813 bighas of the industrial area.

He informed that formal and informal discussions have been initiated with the Chief District Officer and the Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City for this purpose. He stated that clearing 813 bighas of land would necessitate the removal of a lot of arable land and settlements.

Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City Mayor Khilraj Pandey clarified that the municipality is in favor of managing the Rani Ganj settlement within the Motipur Industrial Area rather than completely displacing it. According to him, an agreement was reached earlier to address the settlement rights of local residents along with the construction of the industrial area. He stated that the Industrial Area Management Limited should implement that agreement.

Meanwhile, the Naubasta Industrial Area in Banke has 336 bighas of land. Of this, approximately 55 bighas of land are occupied by arable land and settlements. Pradip Parajuli, chief of the Naubasta Industrial Area Management, informed that discussions have been held with the Chief District Officer to reclaim the encroached land and coordination with other stakeholders is ongoing.
Currently, although internal discussions are intense regarding the removal of settlements in both areas, a clear decision on when and how to implement it has not yet been made.