Around 6, 800 bighas of land belonging to various government agencies and individuals in Dang have been encroached upon in the name of landless people, freed Kamaiya and other reasons.

Properties belonging to Sanskrit University, Sworgadwari Ashram, Mahendra Multiple Campus, Mid-Western Police School, District Administration Office, Lamahi Municipal Development Committee and Sports Development Committee, among others, have been seized.

Campus Chief of Mahendra Multiple Campus Bimal Subedi said locals have encroached upon 30 bighas of land belonging to the campus in Sonpur-5, Tikuligadh and Satbariya areas. “The encroachers are backed by political parties,” said Subedi.  “The illegal settlers have started constructing huts on the campus property at Tikuligadh. The huts are not for living, they are built just to stop us from reclaiming the land.” The concerned landowners have claimed that some political parties had encouraged the so-called landless people to occupy empty properties as per the promise made to the latter of free lands during the election of the first Constituent Assembly.

They said the local administration was powerless before the illegal occupants who are in cahoots with the political parties.

Chief District Officer Dipak Kafle said they have started investigating the cases of land grabbing. “We are recording the details of encroached land in the district. But there are also some genuine landless people who say that they will clear the area only after government provides them the space to live in,” said Kafle.

There are around 18,000 landless people in Dang.