Locals oppose Katahari-Bhediyari railway

BIRATNAGAR, Aug 9: The residents of Katahari VDC of Morang district are up in arms against a railway line to be built by India for ferrying construction materials.



They have opposed the proposed railway line that would connect Katahari VDC to Bhediyari of India because the platform for the railway, as per the plan approved by the authorities, would be built on a human settlement. [break]The area earmarked by the Indian railway engineers for the proposed platform spans across wards 1, 2 and 3 of Katahari VDC.



The locals of Katahari have threatened to disrupt the construction of the railway line if the government did not heed their warnings. They have already expressed their concerns to the government through the District Administration Office (DAO), Morang.



"We won´t let them build the railway platform in the middle of our settlement," said Kishor Kumar Majhi, a resident of Katahari VDC-2. "The platform should be built at a distance from our houses."



While Katahari VDC-1 has no house at all, wards 2 and 3 have been inhabited by around 80 families. "I don´t understand why the government wants to build the railway platform by displacing us," said Majhi. "The platform can be constructed elsewhere too."



Previously, the locals had also expressed their dissatisfaction over the compensation the government provided to those whose lands had been acquired for the railway line.



"They turned a deaf ear to our concerns over compensation back then," said Pashupati Pokharel, a resident of Katahari. "Our voices are being ignored again as they are about to construct a platform."

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