After clearing squatter settlements in the Kathmandu Valley, the government is carrying out a screening process.
During this process, some people are being kept in holding centers, while others are being accommodated in lodges and hotels.
The government had said that it would complete the screening and management of displaced people within 15 days after demolishing the settlements.
So far, the government has designated only one location to house the squatters – an apartment complex in Nagarjun.
The apartments, located in Ichangu, Nagarjun Municipality-1, are currently undergoing repairs. Acting Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Sunita Dangol inspected the site on Sunday.
This apartment complex was built in 2012 by the then government led by Baburam Bhattarai. At that time as well, it was intended to house squatters and low-income families.
The complex consists of five buildings. Among them, three buildings are currently being used by the Manav Sewa Ashram, according to Rameshwar Lama, ward chairman of Nagarjun-1. Another building houses a police post, a health office, and the office of the drinking water and sanitation consumer committee.
Therefore, only one building is currently available for use by squatters.
Lama said that the Department of Buildings under the Ministry of Urban Development is currently carrying out repair and cleaning work on that building.
“The department is doing the necessary cleaning and construction work. It is a five-story building. It is not very well-equipped – it is a basic type of building,” he said.
According to him, the building can accommodate only up to 45 families.
“If each family has four members on average, up to 45 families can be accommodated in that building. It would, however, be difficult to accommodate larger families,” he said.
He also said that the ward office has not been informed about how many families the government plans to house in the apartment complex.
“No government agency has told us anything. So we do not know when, which families, or how many families will be brought here.”
Joint Secretary Narayan Prasad Mainali, spokesperson for the Ministry of Urban Development, said that for now, data collection and screening are ongoing.
He added that, apart from keeping people in holding centers, lodges or hotels, no decision has yet been made on where else to house them.
In the first phase, the government used security forces to demolish squatter settlements in areas including Thapathali, Gairigaun, Sinamangal, and Manohara.
At Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization and the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority are collecting data on the displaced.
By Wednesday, around 1,200 families – comprising about 5,000 individuals – have contacted the authorities and registered as squatters.
