INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, December 4
A group of locals, whose land will be acquired by Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project, protested at Maitighar Mandala
today, demanding fair price of their property.
Locals protested after the district administration offices of Gorkha and Dhading published
notices yesterday fixing the minimum price of the land plots in Arughat, Khahare and Arukhet that will be acquired for the hydel project
One municipality and four rural municipalities of Dhading and four rural municipalities of Gorkha lie in the catchment area of the 1200 MW
Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project
According to Information Officer of the project Ritesh Rawal, 3,560 households will be affected by the project.
Dharmendra Kaji Shrestha,
who led the protest told THT that the government fixed minimum compensation of Rs 800,000 per ropani for those land plots that were sold at
the same rate a decade ago
&We have enough evidence to prove the price of the land plots sold 10 years ago
How can we expect the unfair price?& Shrestha questioned, adding that the locals, who would be affected by the minimum compensation price
were preparing to move the court
He said the DAOs also published notice fixing the price at Rs 50,000 for per ropani in some areas, which were a bit further from the
&The government fixed the price of our land in an arbitrary manner
It should have taken into account of the infrastructure and amenities in those areas before fixing the minimum price of land plots for
acquisition,& he added.
Coordinator of Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project Krishna Bahadur Karki told THT that compensation price was fixed
by a committee headed by CDOs of Dhading and Gorkha district after completion of multiple layers of processes and thus it was fair
&The committee that fixed the acquisition price took into account the price recommended by the local levels, price of land plots determined
by banks during disbursement of loans and price of land plots fixed by Land Revenue Offices of Dhading and Gorkha,& he said and added that
1,200 households, whose houses will submerge, will get compensation for their houses as per the current value.
&Affected families will be
compensated for their houses at current market price
This means even if they had built their houses 50 years ago, they will get the price of their houses as per the current market price,& he
said and added that the families who would lose their houses would also get residential plots at different locations.
The post Locals of
power project catchment area protest appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
