Public Land Encroachment by Beni Municipality

Public lands, bridges, roads, and streams have encroached in Beni Bazaar, the district headquarters of Myagdi.

The Beni Municipality, which is responsible for the protection of public land, has given legitimacy by renting the encroached structure. Pahal Bahadur Khatri of Beni said that the trend of constructing tents on cheap land and renting them at high prices has increased.

"Municipalities and district administration offices have not taken the lead in removing encroached public lands," he said. Dhawalagiri Boarding School has used RCUP's building in Beni Municipality-10 Patlekhet without paying rent. The land of Beni Campus Chowk is occupied by an old river. Most of the houses in the area are built on public land. New West Point Residential Mavli has built a road by shifting the land of Beni Hospital. The land of Balmandir is basic in Kalipula and the land behind the municipal building has encroached in the name of squatters and unorganized settlers.

The land purchased from the Nepal Food Corporation and the four acres of land given to Beni Municipality is also in the possession of the person. Despite the instructions of the authorities, Kuldeep Jugjali has neglected to remove the pavilion built by crossing the motorable bridge at Riverside Hotel and Hadebhir in Galeshwor. The suspension bridge connecting Parbat-Beni and the land of Prakash Mavi behind New Road have also encroached. Beni Municipality-2 has run an agricultural tools factory by taking public land of Hadebhir and renting it out to other entrepreneurs. Local Kuldeep Jugjali said that the municipality has protected the wasted land by paying rent.

"I have employed 50 people by running industries in the wasted areas," he said. As soon as the people's representative was elected in Beni municipality, it was decided to identify and protect the public land of the municipal area. The directives and decisions issued by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the court to remove the physical infrastructure built on the encroached land have been limited to paper.

Hira Bahadur Thapa, ward chairman of Benpa-2, said that they have encroached on the public land by constructing structures on their own by defying the decision of the executive meeting. "We have pointed out the need to remove the bone structure," he said. A team from the administration, security agencies, and the municipality had visited the house in Benibazar requesting to remove the structures constructed under the jurisdiction of the road. Ward Chairman Ram Krishna Baraili said that the encroached public land in Beni Municipality-8 Kalipul has been allotted with the technical assistance of the Survey Office.

"Six people were found occupying the public land at the border with the person," he said. Due to the weakness of the policy started by the then Arthunge VDC to lease public land to raise income, the distortion of one person making cheap deals in the name of the business and renting others has increased.

Chief District Officer Chiranjeevi Rana said that the municipality was ready to help in removing the encroached land and structures if requested. "If the municipality asks for help in writing, we are ready to help remove the encroachment," he said. The municipality has stated that it has sent a letter to the administration last time asking for help to remove the four acres of land of Benpa-7 and the tent of the motorable bridge of Hadebhir.