BHAKTAPUR: A group of small and medium scale entrepreneurs in Nagarkot has imposed an indefinite closure in Nagarkot, one of the tourist attractions in the Kathmandu Valley, from Monday in protest of the demolishment of the huts and houses built on the roadside in Bhaktapur to Nagarkot route.
The Chagunarayan Municipality in Bhaktapur had demolished as many as 100 illegal structures including houses and huts constructed on the roadsides and by encroaching on the Kusum Community Forest area in Nagarkot yesterday.
Struggle Committee Coordinator Dilip Gurung shared that they have called for indefinite launch in a gesture of protest of the local authority’s removal of the huts and houses without offering any alternatives to the owners of those huts and houses.
He said, “We were not given any alternative for relocation. The local authority used dozer to remove the huts and houses built unlawfully on the roadside.”
The irate local entrepreneurs have burnt tires on the roads, as a result, the traffic movement has been halted in Nagarkot. Local entrepreneur Dhan Bahadur Lama admitted that the entrepreneurs here were protested the Municipality’s move as they were not given adequate time to think about alternatives.
According to him, the foreigner tourists, however, will not be barred from entering Nagarkot. Due to the indefinite closure, many tourists heading towards Nagarkot had returned from midway.
Municipality mayor Som Prasad Mishra informed that they had issued a notice and disseminated the information through miking appraising the owners of those huts and houses.
The local government today demolished 20 illegally built huts and houses. The eviction drive followed a joint decision of the local government, Forest Office, District Administration and police administration.
Locals had demanded the removal of such huts, claiming that public land was encroached and those running business in such huts were evading taxes.
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