By Tara Chapagain
Kaski, Mar. 23: Envisioned nearly 50 years ago, fate of an ambitious bus park of Prithvi Chowk at the heart of Pokhara is still in limbo.
In 1975, 205 ropanis of land in Prithvi Chowk was acquired for building a well-serviced bus station. Local residents were ecstatic over the prospect of having a proper infrastructure to ease bus transportation. But 45 years hence, with little or no progress, people feel dismayed. The construction hasn’t recorded any discernible progress during all this time but what’s even more shocking is that the previously-bought 205 ropanis of land has today shrunk to no more than 82 ropanis.
The then Zonal Magistrate Shankhar Raj Pathak had prepared a Physical Infrastructure Development Master Plan in 1974 with the objective of driving the overall development prospect in Pokhara. The Pokhara Bus Park was also envisioned as a part of the plan, under which 205 ropanis of land was acquired. Later, during the road expansion and construction of the Prithvi Highway, some chunks of the land were lost , after which 186 ropanis of the initial land was maintained. This bit of information was also published in Nepal Rajpatra for future reference. The land is under Pokhara Valley Urban Development Committee.
Former Chairperson of the committee Bishwoprakash Lamichhane expressed his sadness over the condition of the bus park. According to Lamichhane, there are three major hurdles, all of which have been impeding the construction of the project over time. First, there are individuals who claim land ownership and thus demand compensation for the land acquired for the bus station. Second reason is the political instability that time and later again that plagued the country. Finally, the encroachment of land by squatters has seriously hindered the project.
Apart from being the most sought-after tourism hub, Pokhara is also the Province capital of Gandaki Province. Thousands of tourists and other passengers visit the Metropolis by bus and are compelled to witness the chaos upon arriving at the mismanaged bus station of Prithvi Chowk. Despite having the space for a bus station, buses have to stop in the middle of the road, and passengers have to make haste while getting off.
Arbitrary distribution of bus park land
While some mayors and district heads did try their best towards getting the bus park project off the ground, the construction work never gained any momentum. When Lamichhane became the chairperson back in 2007, he formed an eight-member construction sub-committee for the bus park. However, the work didn’t advance as planned. Lamichanne alleges that officials from the Pokhara Development Committee sold a plot within the bus park area at Rs. 100,000 to Rs 150,000. “If it weren’t for the despicable act of our own employees, the bus park would have been completed by now,” he added.
Moreover, Lamichhane’s eight-member sub-committee formed at the time filed a detailed report stating that 205 ropanis of land was being distributed arbitrarily. “Employees themselves were distributing land as per their wish,” he said.
In addition to this, another significant problem has been to remove over 460 squatter families occupying the bus park space. At the time, the Urban Development Committee decided to relocate the squatter families elsewhere and reclaim the 205 ropanis as stated in the gazette, which had shrunk to 82 ropanis as a result of encroachment. “At the time, Rs. 100 million was allocated to build the bus park. The committee only had Rs. 70 million but were able to raise the rest. However, just as we were about to move ahead, the government changed thereby disrupting everything,” explained Lamichhane.
Many political cadres have been elected as parliamentarians by raising the issue of the bus park, but the outcome has been lackluster.
Current Mayor’s initiative towards completing bus park
Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Man Bahadur GC claims to have moved ahead with the plan to build the bus park. He informed that that the executive meeting of the metropolis has formed a committee under the coordination of Ward No. 16 Chairperson Jeevan Acharya to take the process forward. According to GC, the tender will also be finalised by the end of the fiscal year.
Committee coordinator Acharya said that the first step should be to reverse encroachment and shift the squatter settlement elsewhere.
Province-level bus park in progress
PMC Engineer Jagannath Koirala informed that a province-level bus park sprawling across 273 ropanis is currently under construction at Lameahal of Pokhara Ward No. 32 at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.5 billion. DPR has also been prepared for the project, which will have the capacity to hold 500 buses, a terminal building, a petrol pump, parking space and 40 shops, among others.