Prime Minister Balen’s Call To Pokhara Mayor Prime Minister Balen Shah has called Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya and asked him about the progress of the work to remove encroachments on Fewa Lake.
Prime Minister Balen called the Pokhara Mayor on Sunday after making public the agenda to remove encroachments on Fewa Lake within 90 days under the 100-point governance reform. In the phone call, Mayor Acharya said that the process of removing encroachments on Fewa Lake will start soon and informed him about the process that has been done so far.
“I had a conversation with the Prime Minister today regarding the removal of encroachments on Fewa Lake. He asked what preparations are being made to remove the encroachments,” Mayor Acharya told Setopati. “We have informed them about the preparations we are making and have said that we will come with a report soon.”
The Balen-led government, in point number 76 of the 100 agenda for governance reforms, has said that it will take forward the process of landslide management, source protection and climate change adaptation in the Fewa Lake watershed area within 3 months with the participation of stakeholders and effectively protect the watershed area.
A committee has been formed under the coordination of Gandaki Province Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey, comprising the Mayor of Pokhara, Chief District Officer and others to protect Fewa Lake. The committee has completed the work of burying poles on the border of Fewa Lake, and is currently working on identifying the contaminated land and the land that needs to be compensated, Mayor Acharya said.
“We will identify the contaminated land and the land that needs to be compensated in a month or two and a half and prepare a report,” he said. “After that, we will determine the compensation for the land that needs to be compensated and ask the government for compensation. We will immediately cancel the contaminated land registration.”
“Since it appears that compensation should be provided according to law only for the land outside the lake and the lake banks that existed from Vikram Samvat 2018 to 2031, it should be identified, and appropriate arrangements should be made to provide compensation,” the order states.
Even though the court had ordered the demolition of structures within the norms within 6 months on April 16, 2075, the process has not progressed yet. Mayor Acharya said that the government has prepared an action plan to remove encroachments within 90 days, and hopes that the protection of Fewa Lake has begun to rise.
He said that after the classification of contaminated land and the classification of land that needs compensation, the process of cancelling the contaminated land registration will be issued after 35 days, and the process of bringing land into the name of Fewa Lake will begin only after the compensation is received in the case of land that needs compensation.
According to studies conducted at different times, private, commercial and government structures are within the lake’s parameters. Mayor Acharya said that government structures such as the Nepal Tourism Board office, police headquarters and the Metropolitan Education Division office also fall within the lake’s parameters.
“We will demolish not only private and commercial structures within the Fewa Lake parameters, but also government structures,” he said, “We will implement the Supreme Court’s order exactly.”
“Houses, buildings, businesses, hotels, restaurants, resorts, etc. and all other types of personal, government or public physical structures located within 65 meters from the highest water level of the rainy season around Fewa Lake must be removed and vacated within 6 months from the date of receipt of this order, and the said 65-meter intermediate area must be declared a complete green zone and implemented accordingly,” the order states.
The government’s work plan also mentions removing encroachments on the watershed area of Fewa Lake and initiating conservation work.
Since Fewa Lake has been declared a protected watershed, the government has also been ordered to work in accordance with the Land and Watershed Adjustment Act to protect the watershed from the source of Fewa Lake.
It is mentioned that it is the responsibility of all individuals and bodies to comply with the court order, and that if the court decides to disobey the decision, the responsible individuals and bodies should take it seriously.
Earlier, the Baburam Bhattarai-led government had formed a commission under the chairmanship of Bishwo Prakash Lamichhane on February 20, 2068, to study Fewa Lake. That committee had prepared a report stating that 1,692 ropanis of Fewa Lake land had been illegally transferred to individuals.
In the survey conducted in 2034 BS, taking advantage of the collapse of Fewa Lake’s dam, individuals had passed the same amount of land in their own names and created land deeds. The Lamichhane Commission had recommended to the government to cancel the land deeds, compensate the landowners who had paid their dues since before 1990 BS, bring it under the name of the lake, and demolish the encroached structures around the lake.