Settlement expansion by capturing public lakes in Dhangadhi

Kailali: Local Sahadeb Chaudhary remembers seeing a large lake spread over 35,660 square meters in Bhanuchok of Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan Ward No. 7 in 2050 BS. "At first the lake was very big," he recalls, "we used to fish and eat there. Now only houses are visible.

The lake is gone." At present, only a small pond is left in the place where there was a long lake, while settlements have been expanded in other areas. The houses have been built by encroaching land on Atta Gadhaiya Lake in Devahariya along with Lamba Lake. The locals say that the land of the lake is being bought and sold.

Various people have also built houses in Saduwa Lake near Atta Gadhaiya Lake. Similarly, more than a dozen houses have been constructed by filling the entire Maniya Lake at a distance of 900 meters just north of the Lake.

Maize fields were set up by filling the pitch of the lake with soil last March. Sitaram Rana, chairman of Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan Ward No. 8, said that the locals who had built their house have already filled the form for obtaining red deeds at the Land Commission. "The ward alone cannot protect it," he said. "We have also urged the sub-metropolitan government to come up with a concrete plan for conservation." Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan has selected 21 lakes in different wards to develop the tourism sector. But out of the nine lakes in Ward No. 7, only Jakhaur Lake has been preserved.

Despite knowing that dozens of lakes have been encroached in different wards, the sub-metropolis has remained silent about the plan to evacuate. Although, Jakhaur Lake, Murkata Lake, Murkatti Lake, Silsila and Maniya Gadhaiya Lake in Ward No. 7 are partially protected, many settlement have been built by encroaching Atta Gadhaiya Lake, Maniya Lake, Saduwa Lake and the long lake.