Construction works at the proposed dry port had come to a grinding halt after locals, who were earlier relocated from the construction site, occupied the land acquisitioned for the project, demanding that they be relocated near the project site.[break]
The government has already provided Rs 50 million as compensation to 18 families who lost their land during the land acquisition process.
“The families, who were occupying the dry port construction site, has agreed to move after we clarified them existing laws do not allow us to resettle families that have already received compensation for the acquired land,” a source at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies told Republica on Tuesday.
In a bid to resolve the problems, a meeting was held recently in Tatopani between the agitating families and senior officials of the MoCS, including Secretary Lal Mani Joshi, customs officials and representatives from local administration, police and political parties.
The government has provided compensation to the owners of 220 ropanis of land. Additional land has been arranged from adjoining public land. The government has acquired a total of 500 ropanis of land for the proposed dry port.
As per the agreement with the Chinese government, which is supporting the construction of the dry port, Nepal government has to arrange land required for the project.
The meeting also decided to upgrade the 6.5 km road section from Miteri Bridge to the construction site as per the Asian Highway standard that requires width up to 50 meters.
Chinese government is providing around Rs 1.20 billion (RMB 85 million) to construct the dry port that can accommodate around 200 cargo containers and other facilities.
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