Sardu Reservoir Land Returns to Government Ownership After 24-Year Dispute

Kathmandu. 348 bigha, 5 kattha, and 15 dhur of encroached land in Dharan's Sardu Reservoir area, which had been under the control of land mafias and locals for 24 years, has now come under the full ownership of the government.

The land has come under the government's name after the Supreme Court's full bench, comprising Justices Sharanga Subedi, Tekprasad Dhungana, and Balkrishna Dhakal, issued a 'mandamus' order to stop individuals from seizing and selling land in the reservoir area by concealing facts, even after receiving land elsewhere as compensation. The Supreme Court issued this verdict on Chaitra 12, 2082 BS.

The dispute over the land in the district, high court, and supreme court for 24 years has been resolved with the full bench's verdict. According to the Supreme Court's verdict, 348 bigha, 5 kattha, and 15 dhur of land falling within Bajhagra 9 Kha, 9 Ga, 9 Gha, 9 Ng, and 9 Cha, Ghopa 7 Kha, 7 Ga, 7 Gha, 7 Cha, 7 Chha, and 7 Ja, has come under government ownership.

In 2033 BS, during the visit of then-King Birendra to Dharan, an order was given to relocate settlements in the Sardu Reservoir area to protect drinking water sources. Accordingly, in 2034 BS, on Magh 9, a survey of this area concluded that 348 bigha, 5 kattha, and 15 dhur of land belonging to 188 landowners needed to be acquired.

209 families from the area were relocated to the Bayarban area of Morang, with 243 bigha of land provided as compensation.

As per King Birendra's directive, the exact demarcation and area of the Sardu Reservoir were not determined, but on Ashad 27, 2034 BS, during the Panchayat era, a meeting chaired by the then Koshi Zonal Chief Surendra Bahadur Shrestha completed the survey of numbered occupied land in the Sardu Khola Reservoir area.

However, the failure of government employees to cancel the old records (land registry) created an opportunity for land mafias. Because the same land was compensated for and then lawsuits were filed in court using old documents, the water source of Dharan was put under threat.

After receiving orders from the court to release the land, widespread deforestation began. Those who had received compensation started a business of reclaiming land in their names, plotting it, and selling it at high prices. For some individuals who received compensation, the land registry in their original (Dharan's) land was not cancelled. Seeing the land still in private names in the land revenue records, some locals misled the court, claiming 'we have not received compensation,' and succeeded in getting the land released in 2058 and 2065 BS.

Although they claimed not to have received compensation, evidence was presented to the Supreme Court. As proof of receiving compensation, details of individuals receiving land in the then Bayarban VDC Ward No. 9 of Morang district were presented to the court.

Even though people moved after receiving compensation, government bodies (Land Revenue and Forest Offices) did not complete the process of canceling the land registry of the original reservoir area and declaring it government or forest land. Taking advantage of this weakness, land mafias used the registry of the original landowners to buy and sell land and file lawsuits.

Birke Rai (grandfather Suragi Rai): Land of plot no. 20, 2-13-13, Samati Limbu: Land of plot no. 28, 1-0-18, Chandra Bahadur Limbu (donor Lal Bahadur Rai): Land of plot no. 31, 2-6-5. Similarly, land of various plot numbers belonging to Nar Bahadur Lungeli Magar, Gokule Rai, Indraman Rai, Karmasingh Rai, Thulo Maule Rai, Tej Bahadur Ale Magar, Narayan Singh Magar, Kul Bahadur Ale Magar, Ganjasingh Rai, Sarvajeet Lamichhane, and Jeetman Rai were received as compensation, as seen from the records of the Land Revenue Office, Belbari, Morang, and presented to the court.

A high-level commission for the strengthening of forest areas in Morang and Sunsari districts was formed by publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette on Magh 21, 2038 BS. The commission's task was to remove settlements from the reservoir area, provide compensation, remove remaining encroachers, and hand over the area to the Forest Office. The commission completed its work and handed over the land to the Forest Office. Even though people moved after receiving compensation, government bodies (Land Revenue and Forest Offices) did not complete the process of canceling the land registry of the original reservoir area and declaring it government or forest land. Taking advantage of this weakness, land mafias used the registry of the original landowners to buy and sell land and file lawsuits.

The original land of those removed from the reservoir area was only put on hold, and since the land registry was not canceled, they went to court based solely on the hold status. When the court ordered based only on the hold status, with the backing of that order, deforestation in the reservoir area and plotting and selling of land intensified.

Of the land falling within the actual reservoir area, a 70/30 ratio agreement was made, where the landowner would take 30% and the Dharan Municipality would get 70%, and the work of plotting and selling the land was accelerated. Even though the final verdict was given by the Supreme Court and the dispute was settled, and the land was handed over as per the agreement with Dharan Municipality, some individuals, in the name of Sardu Reservoir conservation, started preventing us from occupying our land. Based on this, the then Deputy Chairman of Khotang District Development Committee, Nain Kumar Rai, Deputy Chairman of Sunsari District Development Committee, Banshi Moktan, then VDC Vice-Chairman of Bhedetar, Dhankuta, Jagat Rai, and Dilip Rai of Jhapa, put forward former landowner Birke Rai and others and filed a writ in the Supreme Court in 2058 BS.

Based on the writ filed by them, the Supreme Court ordered the release of the land, which had been put on hold by government bodies in 2058 BS, in 2059 BS. After the Supreme Court issued the release order, the Public Concern Forum filed a review petition in the Supreme Court. Following the review petition, the Supreme Court sought a written response from the District Administration Office and the Land Revenue Office, Sunsari. Although these offices presented evidence that the land belonged to the government, the full bench of then-Chief Justice Govinda Bahadur Shrestha and Justice Krishna Kumar Verma, on Chaitra 15, 2061 BS, ordered that the land remain in the possession of the former landowners.

Following the Supreme Court's verdict, in 2065 BS, Samati Limbu, Birke Rai, and 15 others filed a case in the Supreme Court claiming they had not received ownership of the land in Bajhagra-9 Ga. However, without studying the land within the reservoir, on Chaitra 17, 2067 BS, the bench of then-Supreme Court Justices Kalyan Shrestha and Kamal Narayan Das ruled in favor of Samati Limbu, Birke Rai, and 15 others.

As the Supreme Court's verdict indicated that the compensated land would go into private ownership, the then-Local Development Officer of Sunsari District Development Committee, Prem Prasad Bhattarai, filed a petition on Shrawan 13, 2068 BS, seeking a review. In the petition filed by Bhattarai, the bench of then-Supreme Court Justices Sushila Karki, Tahir Ali Ansari, and Tarka Raj Bhat did not grant permission for review on Chaitra 17, 2068 BS.

After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of land mafias three times, the Public Concern Forum filed a case in the then Appellate Court in Biratnagar in 2070 BS, demanding the protection of the reservoir area. The Forum filed the case against then-Pachakanya VDC and Bishnupaduka VDC, Samati Limbu, Birke Rai, Dilip Rai, Chandra Limbu, and 32 others as defendants.

In this case, the bench of then-Appellate Court Justices Mesbahadur Thapa and Shivanarayan Yadav dismissed the writ petition on Shrawan 19, 2071 BS. After the Appellate Court dismissed the writ, the Forum filed a petition in the Supreme Court. The Forum filed the appeal on Mandsir 15, 2071 BS.

The petitioners demanded the protection of the reservoir area, using historical evidence and the gazette notification as the main basis. In the case registered in 2071 BS, after 8 years, on Magh 24, 2079 BS, the bench of Supreme Court Justices Dr. Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Sushmalata Mathema ordered to send the matter of the decisions made on Chaitra 15, 2061 BS, and Chaitra 17, 2067 BS, to a full bench for a final decision.

The dispute has been settled after the full bench ruled that the compensated land would remain under government ownership.