Tikapur Municipality office locked by the local businessmen

Dhangadhi: The local businessmen of Tikapur have locked the Tikapur Municipality of Kailali today (Friday).

Expressing disagreement over the rent rate of the shutters of the shopping complex built by the municipality, the businessmen who have set up shops in the shopping complex have locked the main gate of the municipality.

Businessman Dwarika Prasad Timilsina said that the municipality has been locked by the businessmen as the current public representatives and employees have set arbitrary rents in accordance with the adjusted rates of the municipality for the shutters of the shopping complex built by the municipality.

He said that the municipality increased the rent without coordinating with the businessmen. We drew the attention of the mayor on this matter several times, but he ignored our appeal.

Therefore we were forced to lock it, he said. Mayor Ramlal Dagaura Tharu said that although the then executive had adjusted the rent, the current executive decided to maintain the old rate after the Auditor General said that the executive could not make such a decision.

They have gone through the tender process and entered into a shutter rent agreement. The rent as per that agreement has not been paid for. Now we can't alter the adjusted rates. Only some businessmen have paid the rent. 5-7 people are conspiring against it.

Mayor Tharu said that they will have to vacate their shutters if the rent is not paid for. According to the businessman, when there was no public representative earlier, the municipality used to lease out the shutters of the shopping complex for Rs 2,000 to 3,500 through a tender, thereafter the tender was increased up 27,000 during the COVID pandemic.