KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that the authorities concerned need to tighten the noose as land mafias are grabbing land in various places in Kathmandu.

Addressing a consultative seminar on National Urban Policy, Urban Development Act and Utility Corridor Act in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Prime Minister Deuba lamented that few people were grabbing the land and the  government bodies concerned took no notice of it.

“Land mafias are seizing land in various places. I don’t even know how they did it. There is no report as to why they are being usurped. There is a Ministry of Land Management. There are departments, they have to deal with it,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “There will be no open space in Kathmandu provided the mafias are not curbed on time.”

He instructed the government authorities concerned not to maintain mum over irregularities.

“If you cannot take action or if you have some constraints, take the issues to the higher authority, but do not spare the mafias,” Prime Minister Deuba instructed.