KATHMANDU: The landless squatters in Kathmandu district have appealed to the government for finding an alternative for them to live in lieu of the place they are staying currently.
The landless squatters residing on the bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu held a rally from Maitighar to New Baneshwor on Monday and urged for the same.
Talking to media persons, United National Squatters Front Nepal Chairperson Kumar Karki demanded alternative provisions to the place they had been living for years. “Removing us from the current place without arranging an alternative is not tolerable. It is a violation of human rights.”
Stating that landless squatters were not destructive, Karki viewed that squatters were instead a force to reckon with for nation-building and development pursuits.
Claiming that the government had shut down the door for talks with them, he requested the government to resolve the issue relating to them through dialogue.
An uncomfortable situation was created in the landless squatters’ settlement at Thapathali when the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on November 28 had taken bulldozers to remove the illegally built structures on public land.
The High-Powered Bagmati Integrated Development Committee, through the KMC, had instructed to vacate the places alongside the rivers including squatters’ settlement to keep the Bagmati River clean.
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