Home Minister Sudan Gurung has said that he was deceived in the Phewa Lake land case and will seek legal remedy.
The issue gained public attention after Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya revealed that “Home Minister Gurung owns 20 ropanis of land falling within the buffer zone of Phewa Lake” and that Gurung had told him to “remove the encroachment even if it involves my own land.”
Home Minister Gurung has clarified that he had rented the land for business purposes. He claims that the landowner deceived him by hiding the fact that it was an encroached land falling within the buffer zone.
Following sharp criticism over the Phewa Lake land issue, Home Minister Gurung issued a statement through his secretariat on Monday.
He said he learned that the land along the shores of Phewa Lake fell within the 65-meter criteria only after renting it.
“As soon as I discovered that we had been tricked and cheated into renting the land, I immediately stopped all construction work and investment on moral grounds. As a young entrepreneur, the manipulation of our dream and investment is unacceptable,” the statement issued by his secretariat via WhatsApp quoted Minister Gurung as saying.
Gurung has said that the landowner committed fraud by concealing the fact that the land was encroached upon when renting it out, and that he is preparing to seek legal action.
His secretariat confirmed that around 8-10 years ago, Minister Gurung, along with two other young entrepreneurs, had planned to operate “Adventure Sports Nepal” with the aim of promoting adventure tourism on the banks of Phewa Lake in Pokhara.
“Driven by the zeal and energy to do something in the country, we had started work with a huge investment and dream. Before renting the land, the landowners had assured us that it did not fall within the 65-meter criteria. They even showed us that the land was safe according to the land ownership certificate. However, when we later inquired with the municipality, it turned out to be inside the restricted zone,” Minister Gurung said.
“I want to inform everyone that we will now move forward without any hesitation in the legal process to seek the strongest possible legal remedy against this injustice and fraud that has been done to us,” Minister Gurung said.
Earlier, during a meeting with Pokhara Mayor Acharya at Singha Durbar on Thursday, Home Minister Gurung had said that he owned 20 ropanis of land on the banks of Phewa Lake.
“The home minister showed me the map of his land near Phewa Lake. I informed him that it falls within the lake’s buffer zone,” Mayor Acharya told Setopati. “He asked me to remove the encroachment, saying it is fine even if it involves his land.”
The land pointed out by Home Minister Gurung on the map not only falls within the lake’s buffer zone but has also been found to have been registered improperly. The Supreme Court has ordered the cancellation of such land registrations, with no compensation provided to the landowners.
Mayor Acharya had also informed the home minister about this.
“I told the home minister that the registration of the land he showed will be canceled and that he will not receive any compensation,” Mayor Acharya said. “He agreed to this as well.”
