Efforts to conserve shrinking Phewa Lake lost in murky waters, Pokhara residents say

While the government has not been able to reclaim encroached land for lack of a fixed lake boundary, the Supreme Court directive to acquire more land could cost Rs40 billion in compensation.

Tanka Pahari lives on his ancestral land on the banks of Phewa Lake in Pokhara. But for the past 44 years, he has neither been able to sell his land nor legally build any structure on it. Despite the restrictions on his prime land at the tourist hotspot of the lake city, Pahari has been operating a restaurant there for the last six years.