- The Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled to extend no-construction zones along major rivers in Kathmandu Valley, sparking varied reactions.
- Environmental activists praise the decision for addressing severe river pollution and encroachment, but the federal government has requested a review due to local opposition.
- The ruling introduces an additional 20-meter (66-foot) buffer zone, which would impact thousands of households, raising concerns about property rights and potential displacement.
- Critics argue the ruling will cause economic hardship and require substantial compensation, prompting the government and local authorities to seek revisions.
KATHMANDU — A recent Supreme Court verdict extending no-construction zones along the banks of major rivers in the Kathmandu Valley has triggered frenzied reactions from different stakeholders.
While environmental campaigners have welcomed the court’s decision as a crucial step toward saving the rivers of the valley, where encroachment and dumping of untreated solid and liquid waste is rampant, the federal government, under pressure from the local people, has filed for a review of the decision.
“This is a landmark verdict in the context of Nepal,” said Sanjay Adhikari, one of the lawyers representing the clean Bagmati campaigners. “As a lawyer, I would say that verdicts passed by the Supreme Court are final and there should be no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ in its implementation.”
Justices Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Binod Sharma passed the verdict following 13 years of deliberations over two petitions demanding orders for the government to save the Bagmati River and stop dumping municipal waste in one of its tributaries. Although Bhattarai and Sharma passed the verdict in December 2023, the potential ramifications of the verdict came to the fore after the court released the full text of the judgment in August this year.
Previous government guidelines mandated no-construction zones ranging from 4-20 meters (13-66 feet) on both banks of the river depending on the volume of water and size of the river concerned. The judgment, however, creates an additional 20-m buffer zone, where private or public buildings can no longer be built, along all major river banks in the valley.
The three major rivers that flow through the valley (Bagmati, Bishnumati and Hanumante) and their tributaries run almost dry during the winter, but during the rainy season, they inundate settlements on their banks. Although this has been a long-term issue, government measures to address it haven’t been adequate, the court held.
The verdict comes as Nepal’s Supreme Court has become the last battleground for campaigners and conservationists, as knowledgeable civil society organizations remain largely silent on conservation issues with long-term repercussions.
“For many who haven’t followed the case, it may seem like an abrupt verdict, but for those who have followed it, it was reached following several rounds of discussions with different stakeholders,” Adhikari said.
Adhikari’s statement is backed by the full text of the judgment available on the Supreme Court’s website. According to the judgment, the court consulted not only the petitioners, but also representatives from the federal and municipal government. When Mongabay went through the 89-page document, it didn’t come across an instance when common people living along the banks of the river had been invited by the judges to present their take on the issue. The court also consulted on multiple occasions the High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization, established 30 years ago to clean up the river.
Almost all of the rivers, including the Bagmati, are far from clean. With the dumping of untreated sewage, fecal slurry and solid waste, the rivers are all but dead, with critically low levels of dissolved oxygen.
Encroachment of riverbanks in the city, where real estate prices have skyrocketed, has also emerged as a serious concern. According to figures submitted by the committee to the court, 3,496 households live in temporary structures built on the banks of the Bagmati. This situation arose as municipal authorities in the valley didn’t even adhere to the old guidelines, said Prakash Mani Sharma, the lead petitioner in the court cases, adding that the municipal authorities need to be held accountable.
But people who have duly paid taxes and built their houses after receiving municipal permits to do so adhering to the old guidelines are also bound to lose their hard-earned property, said Suman Sayami, coordinator of the river guidelines concern group. Following the verdict, even those who have lawful property will not be able to sell it or mortgage it for a bank loan. This effectively impacts the people’s right to property enshrined in the Constitution, said Sayami, who recently led a delegation to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Following street demonstrations and pressure from local groups, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli committed to requesting the court to review its decision. Oli said that a fourth of the city of Kathmandu would be displaced if the court order is to be implemented. He also added that billions of dollars would be required to provide compensation to people who would be displaced. (His claims could not be verified due to paucity of data). A few days later, the government filed a formal review petition in the court.
The Kathmandu Valley Mayors Forum, which represents the valley’s local governments, has also requested a review of the ruling, arguing that it could lead to mass displacement and economic hardship.
Mongabay also came across posts on social media stating that the decision would mean the Pashupatinath temple, one of the holiest of Hindu shrines in the world, would also have to be relocated, as it falls under the new no-construction zone. “The court order doesn’t say this,” lawyer Adhikari clarified.
The court’s order is in the long-term interest of the people, lawyer Adhikari said. If the river banks continue to be encroached, floods will cause more damage and possibly more people will die, he added. In addition, the court hasn’t ordered everyone living on the banks of the river to vacate their land immediately, he said. Lawyer Sharma said that the government could provide land elsewhere to people affected by the judgment. “One possible option is to re-develop industrial areas within city limits to make way for planned housing,” he said adding that this would also help address the issue of industrial pollution.
The judgment says that people living on lawfully registered land can continue to do so, provided they don’t build new structures. Similarly, in the case of urban landless people, the court has ordered the government to provide them alternative shelter.
When the court begins hearing the review petition, it is likely to face pressure from local people as judges are also members of the society, an activist, who didn’t want to be named, told Mongabay. “But the court has shown in the past that it is capable of taking tough decisions,” the activist said, adding that the outcome of the case is also likely to have a bearing on other environment-related cases the court is looking at.
Nepal’s Supreme Court is also currently looking at a new piece of legislation that opens protected areas and national parks to the development of infrastructure such as hotels, hydropower plants, railway lines and roads.
Banner image: The Bagmati river flows through densely populated urban areas of Kathmandu Valley and four major religious sites. Image by kendra farrell via /Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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Controversy brews over proposed dam on Kathmandu’s Bagmati River
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