KATHMANDU, JUL 20 - The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has started pulling down houses and other infrastructures built in violation of the building code and by encroaching on public land. In the first phase of the programme, three houses, one each in Sankhamul, Kalikasthan and Thamel, were demolished on Wednesday. KMC officials, along with bulldozers, reached the sites and demolished the houses, notwithstanding the owners’ protest. In Sankhamul, a one-storey house recently erected on public land was demolished in the afternoon. In Thamel, metro officials destroyed a house built on another person’s land. At Kalikasthan, an eight-storey house built on unauthorised land was demolished late in the evening. “We had notified owners of the unlawful constructions. After they failed to correct themselves despite several opportunities, we were compelled to act harsh as the last resort,” said KMC Spokesman Gyanedra Karki. KMC officials say all such constructions in the Valley will be destroyed in due time. “This is the beginning. There are many such structures in the Valley which we will take action against,” Karki added. After the July 10 Kathmandu Declaration, which envisions making Kathmandu a prosperous city in near future, KMC has intensified its action on infrastructure management. People have watched this move with scepticism, though. They fear the metropolitan authorities could have taken up this task to overshadow larger problems in the Valley that need immediate addressing. According to the 2009 data of the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of houses in the metropolis is nearly 200,000. A vast majority of buildings in the Valley are believed to have been constructed encroaching upon land not owned legally. One of the prime focuses of Kathmandu Declaration is construction management and city expansion. “We will not spare any building flouting the law. What we started today won’t end without a broad success,” said Karki. “The number of such structures is high, but those not heeding our call will have to pay heavily.”
Source:the-kathmandu-post