23 Chait, Pokhara. It became a topic of discussion across the country when a dozer was driven into the structure built on the banks of Phewa Lake in Pokhara on Saturday morning. The structures that were said to have been demolished on Saturday morning have been prepared again in the same way as soon as they were included in the 100 work list of the government led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah on the instructions of Home Minister Sudan Gurung.

In the coordination of Prime Minister Shah, Home Minister Gurung and Pokhara Mayor Dhanraj Acharya, dozers were run on 32 structures of Khapaundi built within 65 meters of Fewatal on Saturday morning. There was also a protest that the dozer was being used on the structure built on the land of the locals and on the premises of the Park Village Water Front Resort and the swimming pool where tourists were sleeping.

In the morning, the structures built inside Fewatal, which became a topic of discussion all over the country, started running again as before. The businessmen, who protested that the metropolis had created terror by running dozers without coordinating with the citizens, raised the structure again and started business as before.

Even though many structures were built in Phewatal itself, the metropolis used dozers in some parts of only 32 structures. The dozer was used to demolish some parts of the structure, walls, hoarding boards, to the swimming pool of the water front and even to the garden. However, 2 days after that, until Monday, most of the structures have been erected, and business has also started from those structures.

There was a protest saying that the metropolis hastily run a dozer on the directives of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, and on Sunday local landowners and businessmen submitted a memorandum to the District Administration Office Kaski, Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality and other offices. Prime Minister Balendra, Home Minister Sudan and Mayor of Pokhara also demonstrated against Acharya on Sunday.

As before, local businessmen and landowners have disobeyed the demolition plan by using dozers of the metropolis. The metropolis has also issued instructions to remove the structure within 15 days.

However, the businessmen have opposed the mayor’s move and have taken a stand not to remove them and almost all of them have returned to their old form by Monday.

Acharya, the mayor of Pokhara, claimed that the situation will no longer be created where the demolition will be done for some time for discussion, but then the old destiny will start again. However, Mayor Taranath Pahari, president of Pokhara Tourism Council, said that the mayor made statements that would attack the standards of FEWA, and said that the prime minister and home minister’s instructions were a stunt for discussion without understanding the reality.

Hari Bhujel, another affected local, says that they forgot the feelings of the local people and the reality of the standards of Fewatal and put a gun on Sudan’s shoulder. “This should have been done by making a long-term plan and addressing the demands of the locals rather than for discussion, but here we are using dozers and saying anything,” Bhujel said.

Lakshman Subedi, president of Hotel Association Pokhara, said that all the businessmen and locals want the standards to be implemented, but the demand needs to be addressed. “The problem will not be created while the tourists are sleeping, but the problem will be solved only by dialogue and addressing the demands of the locals,” said Subedi, “businessmen and locals should not be terrorized in the name of implementing standards.”

In the Khapaundi area, Mayor Acharya also ran a dozer on one or two structures. Before this, Mayor Man Bahadur Jisi also earned a buzz by using a dozer on some structures around Coco Beach, now where the California restaurant is located. Questions were being raised about the rules of the people’s representatives when using dozers and allowing them to be made later.

Mayor Acharya claimed that this time the dozer was used with preparation. However, the locals have announced that they will fail the mayor’s claim. Many people say that this time too, the government has used dozers without preparation, so this matter is sure to be stolen.

The construction was being added ignoring the repeated requests made by the Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality to not build structures within the standards of Fewatal and to remove the built structures. The Pokhara metropolis also tries to remove structures every year, dozers on one or two houses and towers, but the trend of adding more structures is repeating itself on the banks of Fewa.

Many believe that the powerful government led by Prime Minister Balen can resolve this issue. After the issue of Phewa Lake protection was also included in the 100 agenda and Prime Minister Balen also took action, this issue caused a stir.

However, last time Mayor Acharya said that the home minister’s land within Talghar also falls under the criteria. Home Minister Gurung said that even if his land goes, Mayor Acharya should implement the standards in various media.

This matter has also drawn home minister Gurung to the center of criticism. It has been found that Home Minister Gurung did not buy the land within FEWA’s standards but rented it and built the structure. Home Minister Gurung has said that he himself has been cheated and will fight a legal battle after the Home Minister drew criticism for not paying the rent for 6 years to the locals. However, this issue could not calm the heated atmosphere.

Since the mayor and the home minister are also at the center of criticism, many people believe that the implementation of the standards will not be successful. However, Mayor Acharya is claiming that he will not back down if he is not removed within the specified time. Vishwaprakash Lamichhane, ex-coordinator of the Phewatal Study Working Group, says that if the government fails to resolve this time too, the Phewatal issue will never be resolved.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly decided to implement the 65 meter standard, but previous governments have failed in this.

Mayor Acharya says that work has been done to separate Talghar, according to the judgment of the Supreme Court, 1,555 pillars have been buried to maintain 65 meters based on the high point of water flow.

It has created a commotion among those who have land within the standard, have built structures, and are doing illegal work under the guise of power and power from Fewatal.

The Supreme Court had ordered on 4 June 2080 that the standard of Fewatal should be maintained at 65 meters. On the 16th of Chait 2078, the 15th executive committee meeting of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality reduced the standard of Fewatal from 65 to 30. Advocate Khagendra Subedi and others filed a writ in the Supreme Court for the second time against this decision made by Mayor Man Bahadur Ji at the end of his tenure.

On 4 June 2080, the bench of Judge Kumar Regmi and Hariprasad Phuyal asked to remove the structures within the standard within 6 months and ordered to declare the 65-meter intermediate area as a green area.

It was not seen that there was any dispute regarding the compensation of the land of Fewatal from the year 2018 to the year 2031, and if it was, it was said that the land of the lake should be considered to have been settled at the same time, and since the land of the lake is the government land of the Nepal government, it was said that it should be done in the name of Fewatal.

In the judgment, it was said that compensation should be given according to the law only in the case of the lake and the land outside of the lake deal that has been in place from 2018 to 2031. This means that after the year 2031, it was also asked to deduct the cost of the contaminated land within the 65 meter standard of Fewatal. According to Acharya, the mayor of Pokhara, the same contaminated land is currently being identified.

There was also an order of the Supreme Court to declare the 65 meter intermediate area as a completely green area. However, no such work has been done so far. Even earlier, Gandaki Sangh, State Government and Pokhara Metropolitan City had filed a contempt case for not implementing the order of the Supreme Court on time.

Due to the same case, another order of the Supreme Court, the committee formed under the chairmanship of the former chairman of District Development Committee Kaski, Punya Prasad Paudel, submitted a demarcation report on February 2, 2077, demarcating four forts. That report was published in the gazette on February 18. According to the report published in the gazette, the area of ​​Phewatal was fixed at 5.726 square km (11 thousand 255 ropani).

Compared to the study report conducted by Paudel, now according to the order of the Supreme Court, the area occupied by the lake has increased by maintaining the standard of 65 meters based on the high flow point in the lake.

The committee has fixed the high flood label of Fewatal at 754.95, and taking that point as a basis, the area occupied by the lake (lake house) has been fixed at 6.343 square kilometers. In this way, it has been seen that the area covered by Fewatal has increased by 1 thousand 213 ropani.

According to Mayor Acharya, the area of ​​65 meters determined by the Supreme Court is 7.616 square km (14 thousand 570 ropani).

Mayor Acharya claimed that work is currently being done to identify the contaminated land, separate the land that should/should not be compensated. He said that work is also being done to deduct the value of land registered after 31 years. In the report of the Punya Poudel Coordination Committee, it is mentioned that 1 thousand 479 trees have been encroached from Fewatal.

According to the report, 881 plots of land fall within the lake. Out of which a total of 518 plots of 916 ropani 8 annas area have been registered in the field book in the name of the individual.

According to the report, 477 ropani 12 annas additional land has also been transferred to the name of the individual with the exemption registration facility from Malpot. Based on the court’s decision, 83 ropani land of Fewatal has gone to the name of individuals.

It has been found that 133 Ropani lands within Phewatal are being occupied by individuals and are in the process of being registered in their name. Similarly, it is mentioned in the report that more than 1 ropani of land was transferred to the name of individuals from the then king’s decree Pramangi and at that time 75 lots of 83 ropani area was registered by the court decision.

In this way, it has been found that more than 1610 ropani of land in Fewatal have been registered in the name of individuals. Similarly, the committee said that the 907 ropani land in the name of the government should be retained in the name of Phewatal. Out of this, 503 ropani lands are in the report maintained only in the name of Harpan Khola.

Based on Vishwaprakash Lamichhane’s report, on 23rd June 2068, Khagendra Subedi and others filed a writ in the Supreme Court. Based on that, the Supreme Court issued a directive order to all the 3 governments on 16 May 2075 regarding Fewatal.