Construction of zipline in Ghyampedanda causes risk of landslide

A zipline built at Ghyampedanda Ranikot road section in Surya Binayak Municipality-8 in Bhaktapur district has posed a threat of landslide to the road section.

The Yoyo Zipline is constructed by allegedly encroaching upon the public land belonging to a community forest. The adventurous sport that starts from Ghyampedanda and ends in Ranikot has allegedly encroached on the 8-meter-wide road as well.

Locals, furious at the encroachment, have demanded with the local authority to put an end to it. The road section where the zipline is constructed is also used as a major road for the locals to travel from Yarle in Kavrepalanchowk district to Panauti and vice versa.

As monsoon has already set in the country and is gradually expanding across the country, locals are worried that monsoon-induced disasters could occur at any time thereby incurring losses of lives and properties, said Santaman Waiba, a resident.

The irate locals expressed their displeasure over the local level chipping in 60 percent of the budget for the construction of the zipline instead of preventing such erring construction, said Harkaman Lama, another disgruntled local.

Lama worryingly explained, "The zipline has encroached on the community forest's land. The wanton construction has posed a threat of landslide. The ward office has put a fence around the zipline area.

He further described, "What is more concerning is that a 40 feet deep hole is dug beneath the fence which has posed a risk for landslide in the road."

Also, locals of Yarle and Ranikot are facing difficulties in commuting as visitors coming to zipline service park their vehicles on the road, according to Amrit Lama, a local vegetable business person.

Lama shared that the road is being used for transporting locally produced vegetables, fruits, poultry, and dairy products from the rural areas of Yarle to Kathmandu and is worried that they may lose their livelihood if the road is damaged.

Hence, he viewed that the zipline should be operated in such a way that does not affect the ecosystem here and does not hamper the means of livelihood of the locals.

Rabindra Sapkota, Spokesperson and ward no 8 chairperson in Suryabinayak municipality refuted the claim made by the locals and clarified that the 60:40 proportion of the budget for the zipline was in the best interest of the road section, not the private property owned by the zipline.

"It is our responsibility to protect the road as a lifeline to the locals of Ghyampedanda and Ranikot. We did certainly put a fence using rocks after landslides began to occur in the road section. We have not permitted the zipline to flout the road criteria."

He informed that they had instructed the concerned authority to conduct the survey of the land and demarcate areas accordingly to resolve the disputed issue."

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