KATHMANDU, July 19: The Ministry of Urban Development has decided to identify the real squatters in the Kathmandu Valley to implement the Supreme Court’s order to relocate the squatters from the riverbanks in the valley to other places, even if alternatives need to be provided. But the ministry has not yet established the criteria for identifying the genuine squatters

KATHMANDU, July 10: Januka Pokhrel only has foggy memories of Morang, the district in eastern Nepal where she was born. What lingers is the sense of precariousness. She did not have a house. She was married off at 13. By 15, she was a mother. By 19, she was a mother of three.

KATHMANDU, March 27: Agitating squatters have staged demonstrations against Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Mayor Balendra Shah in the capital on Monday.

KATHMANDU, Jan 13: The squatters living on the banks of the Bagmati River in Thapathali have said that they are ready to leave their current settlement if there is an arrangement for living elsewhere.

It seems the issue of squatters in Thapathali is less likely to be resolved any time soon. In this context Republica’s Sajira Shrestha talked to youths in Kathmandu Valley to know their opinion about the solution of this problem. Excerpts:

KATHMANDU, Nov 30: Taking strong exception to the remarks of CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli on his drive to clear land encroached upon by squatters, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Balendra Shah has asked Oli why the latter failed to see the 32 years of suffering of the squatters.

KATHMANDU, June 1: Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Shashi Shrestha has directed the National Land Commission to work in a result-oriented manner to end the problems of genuine landless squatters.

DOLAKHA, July 15: Tamakoshi Rural Municipality of Dolakha recently purchased land for 19 squatter families, as stated in the local unit's policies and programs for the last fiscal year to provide land to those families which have been landless for the past three generations.

ITAHARI, June 26: Five years ago, Balutun Khatun’s cottage on the bank of the Chatara Canal in Ramdhuni-2 was demolished as it was built by encroaching the canal’s land. The canal is part of the Sunsari-Morang Irrigation Project.

MAHOTTARI, Mar 12: Squatters of Mahottari have warned of taking to the streets if the government provided 61 bighas of unregistered land in Bardibas Municipality for the construction of the middle-east headquarters of Nepal Army in Province 2.

NEPALGUNJ, Feb 3: In lack of cooperation from the local police and administration,  Adarsha Higher Secondary School  at Ranjha has not been able to use its own land as it has been encroached by squatters since years back. For more than two decades squatters have held sway over the school land.

KATHMANDU, Jan 2: The Supreme Court (SC) has recently directed the government authorities not to remove 309 households of 'squatters' from a public land in Madhyabindu Municipality, Nawalparasi. The squatters have been living there for long.

BUTWAL, Nov 29: During the second Constituent Assembly election four years ago, Baburam Bhattarai, who was a candidate from the CPN (Maoist Center) from Rupandehi - 4, had focused on garnering the support of the squatter community voters.

CHITWAN, Nov 26: CPN (Maoist Centre) Chair and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has said that the landless squatters' settlement of Badarjhula in the district will not be shifted unless employment was guaranteed to them.

KOHALPUR, Oct 27:  Squatters who had built a settlement at Kohalpur-11 by encroaching upon the road at Chauraha have been removed after 12 years. Without the use of force, police removed 72 huts built on the roadside and being used for commercial and household purposes.

KOHALPUR, August 27: Recent floods inundated many parts of the tarai region and left many people utterly helpless. Among them, one of the worst affected communities is the squatters.

JHAPA, June 7:Mangal Murmu of Bhadrapur-10 was elated when government announced local level elections after a hiatus of 19 years. But his excitement waned away after he heard false rumors and baseless claims about his community members making rounds. Murmu, who is one of the eldest residents of a squatter community laments that during every elections, he has been repeatedly asked the same question by members of other communities, “Is it true that political parties distributed money to members of your community?” he said.

KATHMANDU, Nov 26: As many as 1,465 households have encroached upon the banks of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers for residential purpose.

CHITWAN, Nov 18: Minister for Land Reform and Management Bikram Pandey has assured the resolution of issues related to the landless squatters forever.

RATNAGAR, Aug 19: Minister for Land Reform and Management, Bikram Pandey, has said that the Ministry would devote to resolving problems of flood and landslide victims and landless squatters.