Demolition of illegal huts begins at Manohara

Bhaktapur: The government has continued demolition of squatters’ huts and houses by evacuating the illegal dwellers in various public places, especially the river bank of Kathmandu Valley.

On the second day of the evacuation and demolition drive, security forces reached the Manohara riverbank in Bhaktapur along with heavy equipment and operators early this morning.

They began flattening the illegal structures at 9:00 am.

Chief of District Police Premises, Surya Bahadur Khadka, informed that the demolition of illegal structures kicked off with the mobilisation of 1,300 Nepal Police persons and 600 Armed Police persons from Bhaktapur district.

Some persons settling illegally had said they would dismantle their huts by 9:00 am. Then, the demolition team, including Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s dozers, reached the site and began clean-up.

The structures were flattened only after the settlers evacuated with the removal of their chattels. There are 777 huts in the riverbank settlement, which is raised over time.

Seven concrete houses set up illegally were razed on Saturday evening, which, however, faced hostility from the squatters, leaving 22 security personnel injured. RSS