KATHMANDU, Nov 16: Officials from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), along with the city police personnel, used two bulldozers to demolish the encroached structures at Gaushala Chowk on Friday afternoon. This came after a ruling from the Kathmandu District Court on Thursday thatvpaved the way for the stringent action.
The locals expressed their opposition to the action of the metropolis by staging a protest after the bulldozers reached the demolition site. Despite the protest from the locals, the city police personnel cordoned off the encroached structures and used bulldozers to demolish them.
The KMC has stated that bulldozers were used on the temporary and permanent structures built by encroaching on the boundary of the Ring Road. After protesting and obstructing the bulldozers, the police detained several individuals.
PADT directs to remove illegal structures in Pashupati Gaushala...
The demolition works were enabled by a ruling of the Kathmandu District Court on Thursday that the Marwadi Sewa Samiti (MSS) has no claim over the Pashupati Gaushala Dharmashala, which is owned by the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT).
A single bench of Judge Kamal Prasad Pokharel had concluded that there is no lease agreement for the Pashupatinath Dharmashala and explained that the MSS cannot claim indefinite use of the Gaushala Dharmashala.
The verdict paved the way for the PADT to evict the MSS from the Gaushala Dharmashala. Additionally, the verdict also gave authority to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to execute its plan to demolish the structures built without the approval of the building plans inside the Dharmashala.
After questions were raised regarding the use of Pashupati land without any agreement, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Amalkot Kachahari, now known as PADT, and the MSS in 2003 BS. The agreement stated that the land would not be privately owned, no shops selling meat or alcohol would be allowed in the structures built on the land, and when the structures were closed, the property would belong to the PADT. It also stated that the bull sanctuary named after Pashupatinath should be preserved.
However, the MSS, which had been paying only Rs 51,000 annually to the PADT, was utilizing the structures built in the Gaushala for commercial purposes and making financial gains. Later, the MSS also added more structures there.
