Landless Squatters Given 5 Days to Vacate Holding Center

Kathmandu. After removing settlements along the riverbanks, the Empowered Bagmati Civilization Integrated Development Committee has posted a notice asking the landless and homeless temporarily sheltering at the holding center in Kirtipur to vacate the building within 5 days.

The committee has urged them to vacate the holding center by managing themselves from Monday to the coming Friday.

According to Machakaji Maharjan, Project Director of the Empowered Bagmati Civilization Integrated Development Committee, the daily lives of the people staying at the holding center have become chaotic due to the long stay.

“The reason for vacating is that the residents of the center are unable to go to work, are living a chaotic life, and the stay there is only a temporary arrangement,” he told Ratopati. “The monsoon has already started, and the Kirtipur holding center is located right next to the river, posing a great risk of floods and inundation during the rainy season. To prevent such security sensitivities and humanitarian crises, a 5-day ultimatum had to be given to send the landless to a safe place before the monsoon,” Maharjan said.

Relief Package Available

The committee stated that the government has put forward a relief and rehabilitation package to vacate the holding center and will now implement it.

Under this, the government has decided to provide a lump sum of Rs 25,000 per family as rehabilitation expenses to help displaced people, both inside and outside the holding center, find rooms and make initial arrangements.

“The necessary budget has been allocated for this and has been received by the committee, and there is a legal obligation to spend and distribute this budget between Asar 15 and 20 of the current fiscal year,” he said.

“Actual landless and homeless certified families will be provided with installment-based rent assistance at the rate of Rs 15,000 per month to rent a separate room. This amount will be provided until the Land Commission decides on their permanent settlement. We are not making them homeless,” he said.

According to the committee, a total of 388 families are currently residing in 6 holding centers in the valley. So far, no one has received the relief amount.

The committee has deployed 3 to 4 special teams to expedite the relief distribution process. To receive relief, affected families must submit an application with their account number.

The committee stated that the amount will be directly provided through the bank as soon as the application is collected and the account number is obtained.