Bara. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Gauri Kumari Yadav, has inspected the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) based in Simara. Minister Yadav inspected the SEZ area at a time when the government is preparing to vacate the encroached land.

During the inspection, Minister Yadav inquired about the SEZ land falling under ward no 4, 14 and 15 of Jitpursimara Sub-metropolis and the structures constructed there.

Minister Yadav, accompanied by Ministry Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut and Special Financial Authority (SFA) acting executive director Meghraj Shankar, held discussions with the locals living in SEZ. On the occasion, 93 households residing for long submitted a memorandum to Minister Yadav.

According to the locals, they have been living in the area before the closure of Birgunj Sugar Factory in 2059 BS. They say that the factory has kept its working families on land owned by them for settlement and farming. Similarly, the then Dumrawana VDC in coordination with the local administration had managed 37 families displaced by the Balganga River in 2050 BS.

Though the ownership of the land came under the ownership of the Ministry of Industry in 2006 BS following the closure of the sugar factory, the 130 families are still living there. Locals of 93 families have submitted a memorandum to Minister Yadav demanding proper management of the factory, saying that they are not encroachers but are living under the management of the factory.

There are more than 600 families living on the land in the SEZ area except the sugar factories and those managed by the then local administration. According to the data released by SEZ in 2077/78 BS, 606 households have been living in the SEZ land. This is what the authority has been referring to as encroachment.

According to the Special Economic Zone Authority, 490 bighas of land out of total 833 bighas in Jitpursimara have been encroached upon. Currently, only 343 bighas of land are being used by the SEZ. The NRA had sent a letter to Jitpursimara Sub-Metropolitan City on April 9 seeking help to vacate the encroached land. Accordingly, the sub-metropolis has already issued a notice to the locals through the ward office.

During the meeting, Mayor of Jeetpursimara Sub-Metropolitan City, Rajan Poudel, pledged to help clear the encroached land.