Kathmandu, October 16: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has reclaimed more than 208 ropanis of public land worth around 23 billion rupees.

Mayor Balen Shah announced that the metropolis has so far recovered over 208 ropanis of public land and property, and its broader goal is to reclaim a total of 1,859 ropanis and 14 annas of encroached land valued at nearly 200 billion rupees.

Balen stated that under the Local Government Operation Act, 2074 (2017), the local government has full authority over the protection, management, and recovery of public land and property. He emphasized that the metropolis has launched a campaign to end the practice of encroaching upon, seizing, or misusing public land.

As part of this campaign, land worth more than 23 billion rupees has already been reclaimed for public use. To ensure that the recovered land is not re-encroached upon, KMC is developing them into public spaces — such as open parks, sports grounds, skateboard parks, pavilions, green zones, and other community-use areas — at an accelerated pace. Some encroached river corridors have also been cleared in the process.

To give further priority to the protection of public land, the metropolis has adopted the report prepared by a commission led by former secretary Ram Bahadur Rawal as a policy guideline. Following that report, a task implementation committee has been formed with the goal of reclaiming all 1,859 ropanis and 14 annas of encroached public land.

Additionally, Mayor Balen urged that if any individual, organization, NGO, or group is found to be encroaching upon public property, citizens should inform the Urban Management Department of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

People’s News Monitoring Service.