Birgunj, January 4

A notice from the Department of Road to remove illegally built settlements from the Customs Office in Birgunj to Damechaur in Makawanpur along the Tribhuwan Highway for road expansion has worried the dwellers of Main Road.

The Department of Road has given 15 days’ time to remove illegal infrastructure 25 metres on both sides of the road. The department has been serving this notice for the past four years.

Senior Vice-chairman at Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Om Prakash Sharma said local residents were living in fear after the concerned authority directed them to remove the infrastructure spreading from Customs office, Birgunj, to Damechaur of Makawanpur.

He said thousands of houses and trade hubs in the areas would be destroyed if the settlements were removed.

According to Spokesperson at Road Division Office Hetuada Jayaram Adhikari, his office will forward the process of taking action if locals ignore the authority’s notification to remove the settlements.

Administrator at Central Regional Office Binod KC said a campaign to demolish the illegally built infrastructure along Tribhuvan Highway had started. He informed that encroachments would be removed in other places after the infrastructure in Hetauda was removed.

Locals at the Main Road area had earlier formed Birgunj Save Protest Committee after the road division office notified them to remove the illegally built infrastructure.

The committee’s Coordinator Jawahar Prasad Gupta claimed that there was no point in removing the infrastructure from the area as alternative roads in both east and west of Birgunj were completed.

The locals have demanded that only 15 metres on each side of the road should be cleared instead of 25 metres.