Land dispute stalls new city project in Baitadi

By Gokarna Dayal,Baitadi, Mar. 19: The Patan New City Project has struggled to gain momentum due to ongoing land disputes. 

Structures worth Rs. 380 million remain unused. The government initiated the new city project in 2011 (2068 BS) to settle 100,000 people. However, 13 years since the project's inception, the key component of land pooling (land consolidation) remains unresolved.

Patan Municipality Mayor Gauri Singh Rawal said that no consensus has been reached despite holding multiple discussions with locals from Ward No. 6 regarding land pooling.

“Earlier, discussions were held regarding land below the Patan Airport, but no agreement was reached. Then we shifted discussions to land in Nagdibata, but still consensus has not been forged. Some families have only a small plot of farmland and land pooling may result in losing all land. This has made it difficult to reach an agreement,” Mayor Rawal said.

Saurav Kalouni, the acting chief engineer at the Patan New City Project Office, said that the project aims to develop roads, parks and other infrastructure to facilitate organised settlement, eventually handing over plots to locals as residential plots. He stressed that the project’s progress has stalled due to the lack of agreement on land pooling.

The new city was designed to curb migration from the hills by providing education, healthcare and employment opportunities. Despite the government’s plan to develop 10 new cities along the Madhya Pahadi (Mid-Hill) Highway from Panchthar to Jhulaghat in Baitadi, progress in Patan has been unsatisfactory, according to Basanta Bista, a local.

Millions spent, structures remain unused

The Patan New City Project began construction of a bus park in the fiscal year 2014/15, yet it remains non-operational even after a decade. Similarly, Hirapur Amusement Park, built for Rs. 20 million, has also not been operational.

Due to the inactive bus park, vehicles are parked along the streets, according to Dinesh Bista from the Patan Bus Counter. The 130-metre-long and 45-metre-wide bus park is now overgrown with weeds and covered in moss. The project office, however, has plans to repaint the structures and hand them over to the municipality this year, said Chief Engineer Kalouni.

In addition to the land dispute, Mayor Rawal acknowledged that the project’s progress has been unsatisfactory in other aspects too, including the bus park, amusement park, roads and open-stage development.

So far, the New City Project has spent Rs. 380 million constructing 13 structures in Patan. An additional Rs. 135 million is expected to be spent in the ongoing fiscal year 2024/25 (2081/82 BS), Kalouni added.

Patan airport structures left unused

The Patan Airport has also faced setbacks. Despite Rs. 170 million being spent on constructing the runway and terminal building, the facilities remain unused due to halted air services.

Following the airport’s renovation, former Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai inaugurated the Patan Airport on October 3, 2020. Although flights initially operated once a week, the airport has been non-operational since March 24, 2022.

Currently, the airport relies solely on one office assistant for maintenance, as there are no other staff. Office assistant Rohit Awasthi said that he is stationed at the airport alone due to the lack of personnel.

Patan Airport operated for approximately 16 years with a dirt runway from 1979 to 1995. However, the airport remained closed for 25 years due to the armed conflict.

The 20-meter-wide and 580-meter-long runway positions Patan Airport just a 17-minute flight from Dhangadhi, the capital of Sudurpashchim Province. Despite substantial investments, the absence of air service has left the people of Baitadi disappointed.