KATHMANDU: The land acquired for laying down the water supply pipeline of the Melamchi Water Supply Project has been encroached upon.

However, the bodies concerned have not paid attention to this.

Land was acquired along a stretch of about five kilometers for the purpose of bulk supply system from Sundarijal of Gokarneshwor municipality-1. Main supply pipeline of 1,400 millimeters diameter has been installed underground along a width of about 25 meters of the land acquired for this purpose.

It is on this 25 meters wide stretch of the land of the project where encroachment is taking place at various places. The project’s this land has been found encroached upon at nearly a dozen points at the municipality’s ward no. 1, 2 and 4.

Cement pillars have been constructed on the right and left-hand side of this 25-meter wide stretch right at the time of laying the bulk supply pipeline to mark off the area.

Now, one can observe that maize, vegetables and other crops have been cultivated by people encroaching part of this land at various spots along this stretch.

As a result, the cement pillars marking off the land acquired for the project are found lying within the cultivated area.

Ram Bahadur Shrestha, a local, said nobody has said anything so far although it is clearly seen people have started cultivating vegetables by encroaching the project’s land.

He expressed concern that lest this land sees the same fate the land along the Bagmati river has met at various places along the Bagmati corridor. It is found that land along the bank of the Bagmati river has been encroached by squatters at various places.

Moreover, trucks and lorries are found plying on this 25-metre-wide stretch of the project’s land along the road. The main water supply pipeline is installed below this.

Project executive director Tiresh Prasad Khatri said operation of vehicles will not cause harm to the water supply pipeline as it has been installed three metres below the surface.

He, however, said nobody should encroach the land acquired by the project for cultivation purpose. RSS