107 families threatened to lose their lands in Phulbari

Dhangadhi: Locals of Phulbari are in a state of panic as someone else has claimed 107 pieces of land that belong to various families in Phulbari of Kailali.

In Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan city-18, the locals have become alarmed after someone claimed the land of 107 families. Two locals of Kathmandu have claimed that the land in different places of Ward No. 18 belongs to them.

The heirs of Pradyumna Pandey and Kalyanraj Pandey of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-33 have submitted an application to the Land Reforms and Property Office saying that they own 242 bighas of land. In Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan ward number 18, 242 bigha 2 katha 19.5 dhur land was acquired by Guru Purohit Janakraj Pandey from Lalmohar in the year 1993 during the Rana regime and it was exempted due to the 2021 year plan.

Padma Bahadur Chand of Dhangadhi-5, the heir of Pradyumna Pandey of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-33 and Dilip Sapkota, the heir of Kalyanraj Pandey, have applied to register the land that has been exempted. But the land applied for has been inhabited by people since 2036. Ward Chairman Bhuwan Rizal said that the housing company in 2036 and the Sukumvasi Aayog, which was formed at various times after that, have given grants to 107 families who are currently living there.

President Rizal has said that since the claim has been made on the land that they have been claiming for years along with land ownership certificate, there has been increased panic among the locals.

"The people living here have received redundancies from Rural (Basti) Development Company in 2036. In the same way, even the squatter commissions formed at different times have not distributed land ownership certificate,' he said. Pradyumna Pandey's heir Padma Bahadur Chand and Kalyanraj Pandey's heir Dilip Sapkota have submitted an application to the Land Registry Office asking to get the land registered in the name of the applicant under the exemption land registration.

The land office had also issued a public notice on 7th Baisakh to register the parcels of land as per the petitioner's demand by attaching the plot register, field book, and local level recommendation to claim within 35 days with the evidence they have.

Now the residents of Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan ward number 18 are in a state of panic after someone else claimed the land that 107 families have been residing on with land ownership certificate. Ward Chairman Rizal claims that the land was claimed by the former chairman after the recommendation from the ward office that the land belongs to Guru Purohit Janakraj Pandey.

"There was a problem because the ward office recommended that this land belongs to Guru Purohit Janakraj Pandey in ward number 18," he said Locals complain that an atmosphere of panic has been created after someone else came and claimed the land. Former ward president Murari Adhikari claimed that there was no mistake in his recommendation.

The officer has argued that when the information was released from the Land Revenue office in the first week of Baisakh, the ward office did not give the information to the locals in time. Ward Chairman Rizal's argument is that when he has been a surveyor at different times and has received a land ownership certificate, hence another person cannot come and claim the land.

Ward Chairman Rizal said that after collecting all the evidence and submitting it to the Land Revenue Office, the case is currently in court. Prem Bahadur Daulayal, chief shipping officer of the shipping office Dhangadhi, said that although the application has been received, the action has not been taken forward. The residents of Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan city-18 are worried after the former landlords claimed the right to the land after 88 years.