Nepal Authorities to Demolish 400 Encroaching Structures Along Bagmati Irrigation Canal

Rautahat. Approximately four hundred houses and structures built by encroaching on the canal in the Rautahat area under the Bagmati Irrigation Project will be removed. The project had already issued a seven-day public notice on Chaitra 26, urging locals residing on both banks of the canal to remove their structures.

Locals have been encroaching on the canal land and residing in the Chandrapur Municipality-5 and 6 areas of Rautahat for about 28 years. Since the encroaching structures were not removed despite the notice, preparations are underway to remove them by force, informed Santosh Chaudhary, Project Chief of the Bagmati Irrigation Project, Karmaiya.

He stated that a team including the Mayor of Chandrapur Municipality, Sanjay Kumar Kafle, Chief District Officer of Rautahat, Dinesh Sagar Bhusal, and representatives of security agencies will conduct an on-site inspection within a few days to proceed with the process of removing the encroachments. Chaudhary mentioned that about three hundred fifty to four hundred houses and structures will be removed. This step has been taken as part of the campaign to protect public land, prepare digital records, strengthen the monitoring system, and remove illegal occupations, as per the directive of the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation and the one-hundred-point agenda on good governance reforms of the Nepal government.

Project Chief Chaudhary said, "As per the government's policy, an campaign has been launched to stop new encroachments and remove old illegal structures. Here, in Chandrapur Municipality-1, an area of 125 meters from the Bagmati to the Dhanar River in Gujara Municipality needs to be cleared in the main canal area, with 65 meters on the east and 60 meters on the west falling under the canal."

Chief District Officer Dinesh Sagar Bhusal also clarified that the encroachment in the canal area will be removed soon. "If not removed voluntarily, the structures will be demolished; we will proceed with the implementation after holding necessary discussions soon."

Ganesh Poudel, Member of Parliament for Rautahat Constituency No. 4, stated that the government has made such a decision for canal management and irrigation expansion. He emphasized that the Bagmati Irrigation Project is a national pride project and its management should be prioritized.

He also informed that plans are underway to expand the irrigation area by bringing additional water from the Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project, highlighting the need to identify and manage the genuine landless people residing in the canal area.

Meanwhile, locals residing in the canal area have drawn the attention of the municipality, demanding the identification and proper management of genuine landless squatters.