Dismantling begins in Gairigaun settlement
- Authorities on April 25 began dismantling riverside squatter structures in Gairigaun, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-9, with Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and metropolitan police deployed along the Bagmati corridor. - Kathmandu Metropolitan Police said eight bulldozers were sent to Gairigaun because many houses were large, permanent concrete structures, making demolition harder than the earlier Thapathali riverbank clearance. - The Gairigaun action is part of a wider first-phase Bagmati cleanup targeting 871 households across five sites, after Thapathali was cleared and screening began at Dasharath Stadium (radionepalonline.com)
Authorities began tearing down riverside structures in Gairigaun, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-9, on April 25 as Nepal widened its Bagmati riverbank clearance drive. (risingnepaldaily.com) (thehimalayantimes.com) A joint team of Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and Kathmandu Metropolitan Police moved in that afternoon to remove houses and makeshift buildings built on public land along the Bagmati River. Police said the operation was carried out without clashes. (risingnepaldaily.com) (radionepalonline.com) Kathmandu Metropolitan Police deployed eight bulldozers in Gairigaun, double the four first used in Thapathali, because many structures there were larger and more permanent. Police chief Bishnu Joshi said crews were working on both sides of the Bagmati in Gairigaun and Shantinagar. (english.ratopati.com) The Gairigaun demolition followed the vacating of the Thapathali riverbank settlement in Kathmandu Metropolitan City-11 earlier the same day. Government notices had warned residents that demolition would begin at 6 a.m. on April 25 and that obstructing the clearance could bring legal action. (risingnepaldaily.com) (en.setopati.com) Officials say the campaign is aimed at clearing riverbanks and other public land while separating landless families from people who built on encroached plots. The Prime Minister’s Secretariat said the state is pursuing “sustainable management” of landless squatters as the removals continue. (radionepalonline.com) (english.nepalnews.com) The Kathmandu Valley Development Authority says 162 squatter households are in Gairigaun, compared with 143 in Thapathali and 476 in Shantinagar. Across Gairigaun, Shantinagar, Thapathali, Manohara and Manohara Tole, the authority counts 871 households. (radionepalonline.com) At Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, officials began screening families displaced from Thapathali, collecting records to determine who qualifies as landless and who may be relocated. By early afternoon on April 25, 23 families had been registered, and four families had been sent to Kirtipur. (radionepalonline.com) (www.everest-times.com) Government plans described by officials include temporary rehabilitation in Nagarjun, Kirtipur, Bode, Kharipati and Chandbag for people who do not own property elsewhere. Screening at the stadium is the first step before any land allocation in a second phase, officials said. (english.ratopati.com) (radionepalonline.com) Residents and advocates say the removals have left families in limbo while verification and relocation lag behind demolition. The Kathmandu Post reported on April 26 that evicted residents were asking the government for a place to stay after their huts were destroyed. (kathmandupost.com) For now, Gairigaun is the next cleared stretch of the Bagmati, and officials say more settlements in Kathmandu Valley are still in line for removal. (radionepalonline.com) (risingnepaldaily.com)
