Kalinchowk searching for public land around temple

By Baburam Sharma,Dolakha, Aug. 5: Kalinchowk Rural Municipality is about to begin the search for public land in the Kuri region around the famous religious and tourist site of Kalinchok Temple.

Kul Bahadur Budhathoki, Deputy Chairman of Kalinchok Rural Municipality, informed that the search for the land in the Kuri area was about to begin to check the rapid and rampant encroachment.

According to him, while searching for the land, the rural municipality had decided to make correspondence with the concerned agencies including the District Administration Office, Land Revenue Office and Guthi Sansthan to find evidence of the status of the land.  

"So far, no information has come from anywhere. We are waiting for information," said Budhathoki. 

He expressed surprise about the concerned agencies’ negligence in measuring the land if it belonged to Guthi Sansthan. According to the Local Self-Government Act, it is the responsibility of the local government to search and protect such land. 

The confusion over whether this land belonged to the local Community Forest Group functioning under the Ministry of Forest and Environment or to the Guthi Sansthan under the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation was making it easy for encroachers to occupy the land. 

Even after the District Forest Office handed it over to Jhareni Community Forest in the year 2008, more than 150 hotels have been built in that area with an investment of hundreds of millions of rupees. A cable car facility has also been built at a cost of Rs. 450 million and put into operation.

Since the Guthi Sansthan officially started to maintain its ownership over the land in Kuri area in August 2006, about 200 hectares of land have been encroached in different locations and the landscape looks ugly as work for the construction of houses and other infrastructure is underway.

Guthi Sansthan had permitted Kalinchok Darshan Pvt. Ltd. to build the cable car on the basis of the obscure 195-year-old royal seal (Lalmohar) of the government. 

Since the beginning of the construction of the cable car, a dispute over the land has resulted in vandalism and clashes from time to time. 

Earlier, the Guthi Sansthan formed a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief District Officer and made it a policy to allow the land to be used in lease. The hoteliers said that the problem was getting worse as the Sansthan suddenly stepped in, stating that the businessmen should not be targeted in the conflict between the two government agencies.

As the dispute is growing, the land of Kalinchok is being occupied in the name of the locals and they are illegally selling it at a high price. 

It is also said that the brokers occupy the land in the name of paying rent and sell it at Rs. 5 million to Rs. 5.5 million. 

Hotelier Lal Bahadur Pakhrin said that he had not paid the rent so far, and he had leased the land on the condition that he would pay the rent to the municipality later. 

However, the District Forest Office said that the area belonged to the local community forest and no one could use it without the decision of the Cabinet.