Infrastructure

Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, who was forced to apply brakes on his plans to evict squatters from Bagmati riverbanks, has suffered another blow. The Patan High Court has issued an interim order against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City's excavation of the Tukucha river.

Following a preliminary hearing on the writ petition on Wednesday, a joint bench of Judges Mahesh Sharma Paudel and Rajya Lakshmi Bajracharya passed its ruling in favour of property owners, declaring the KMC’s excavation of the Tukucha river illegal.

According to Advocate Amrit Sapkota, legal counsel of the petitioners, the KMC will no longer be permitted to excavate the river. Following the preliminary hearing of the petition, the High Court issued an interim order to the KMC not to excavate the tukucha, he said.

Earlier on September 18, the High Court had stayed on KMC's tunnel excavation after 22 individuals and associations, who own property above the Tukucha river, filed the petition. 

Tukucha originates in the northern part of Kathmandu and is a tributary of the Bagmati River. The Tukucha river tunnel was built more than 130 years ago to channel water through a stretch between the Narayanhiti Palace compound wall at Jai Nepal and Kamaladi. 

The metropolis launched its demolition drive in September 2022, digging up the property of individuals and organisations, including the Jai Nepal Cinema Hall, in what Mayor Balendra Shah calls to ‘resurrect’ the river and its surroundings.

The KMC has proposed clearing its banks in the capital’s old town are, from Hattisar to Putalisadak, and developing parks and walking trails there. 

Also Read: Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah’s Tukucha plan ‘intact’