Kathmandu, July 29:

Tired of “repeated appeals” to the concerned authorities for compensation for their land and houses, locals of Melamchi in Sindhupalchowk district and Kavre district have threatened to stop vehicles of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project (MDWP) from plying on the roads. Over 35 residents of both districts gathered in Kathmandu today, filed a case at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), citing massive corruption in the project.

“We cannot tolerate it anymore...we have lost patience,” said an enraged 70 year-old Dev Kumari Shah of Gairibisauna village development committee, who has not received compensation for her land and house. “I registered my application at the Melamchi Water Supply Department demanding compensation for my land but I have not got any,” she told an interaction organised by the Water and Energy Users’ Federation, Nepal. Yognath Dotel and Ram Bahadur Koirala, locals of Sindhupalchowk, warned they would launch action against all vehicles of the project if they are not compensated within a week. “Whatever the

consequences, we will face it,” he said.

Sixty-year-old Krishna Prasad Bhattarai warned he would be the first to take the streets to demand compensation, adding that officials of the project have been terrorising the locals.

Rukmini Shrestha vowed that women also would now join the in men stopping the vehicles of the project. Hari Prasad Dhital of Melamchi lamented his family had been displaced due to the encroachment of his land and houses by the Royal Nepalese Army. “We have been demanding

resettlement, in vain,” he said. Yadhunath Gautam demanded employment to the locals of the Melamchi according to their qualifications.