KATHMANDU: Acting Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Sunita Dangol has directed authorities to begin protecting public land cleared of informal settlements along riverbanks.
During an inspection of the recently cleared area along the Bagmati River at Thapathali on Saturday, Dangol instructed concerned agencies to coordinate with the High-Powered Bagmati Civilization Integrated Development Committee and other stakeholders to install fencing and safeguard both cleared and yet-to-be-cleared areas.
Dangol also inspected the physical condition of a settlement in Ichangu, Nagarjun. According to Ward 11 Chair and coordinator of the metropolitan Building Management Committee Hiralal Tandukar, there were a total of 332 makeshift houses in Thapathali and Banshighat areas within the ward, of which 136 structures in Thapathali have already been demolished.
In the Bagmati river corridor stretching from Sinamangal to Baneshwor Campus, there were 162 households in Ward 9 and 476 structures in Dirghashanti Tole (Jagritinagar) of Ward 31 under informal settlements. The Ward 9 settlements were cleared on Baisakh 12.
According to a 2022 report by the Bagmati committee, there were 3,496 informal households along riverbanks across the Kathmandu Valley. Of these, 2,245 were within Kathmandu Metropolitan City, 90 in Kageshwari Manohara Municipality, 156 in Budhanilkantha Municipality, 17 in Lalitpur Metropolitan City, and 773 in Bhaktapur Municipality.
Officials estimate that the number of informal settlers may now be close to 4,000 across the valley, considering possible increases over the past three years.
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