Encroachers target land of Cotton Dev Committee in Bardiya

By Our Correspondent,Bardiya, Nov. 15: Encroachers have once again eyed three bighas of land belonging to the Cotton Development Committee in Durgapur, Madhuwan Municipality-8 of Bardiya district.

Within the past five months, there have been two attempts to seize the government-owned land, while the local authorities remain indifferent to its protection.

Although the land is registered under the Government of Nepal, the wire fence installed to protect it was dismantled by the Madhuwan Municipality itself. Following that, groups of landless squatters have repeatedly attempted to occupy the area.

In June of the last fiscal year, Madhuwan Municipality, without coordination with the concerned authorities, demolished the fencing and felled 27 large sagun and sissoo trees, citing road construction. The District Administration Office intervened and ordered an immediate halt to the cutting after protests from the Cotton Development Committee.

Meanwhile, on the night of October 31, more than 150 people associated with the “Nepal Shuddha Landless Independent Party” from Bardiya, Dailekh, Jajarkot and other districts built makeshift shelters on the land in an attempt to occupy it.

According to the committee’s Executive Director, Birendra Raj Parajuli, repeated incidents of encroachment have occurred due to a lack of cooperation from Madhuwan Municipality. 

The committee owns a total of 1,320 bighas of land across Bardiya, Banke and Dang districts, but in several areas, squatters have been living since the conflict period due to the absence of official land ownership documents (lalpurja).

Established in 1980, the Cotton Development Committee operated profitably between 1989 and 2003. Its main office is currently located in Khajura, Banke, where the primary processing machines are still functional.

Tej Bahadur Bhatta, Mayor of Madhuwan, said, “The fencing was removed to open a road connection, as the land lies next to the road. We have already written to the committee to reinstall the fencing and protect the property.”

Local residents, however, have expressed concern that poor coordination and negligence among government agencies are putting public land at increasing risk of encroachment.