Kaski. The Pokhara Metropolitan City (PMC) has decided to move ahead with the management process of landless Dalits, landless squatters and unorganized settlers living in the proposed Pokhara Bus Park area at Prithvi Chowk.

According to the final report of the investigation carried out by the metropolis, 325 families are landless and 242 families are unsystematic in the bus park so far.

Of these, 144 families are landless Dalits, 181 families are landless squatters and 242 families are listed as unorganized settlers. The Metropolitan City Executive Committee has already verified the details of landless and unorganized settlers.

KMC mayor Dhanaraj Acharya pledged to forwarden the management of genuine landless and landless families in the bus park area.

According to him, the remaining process of the management of the squatters’ settlement in the Buspark area will be resumed from next Sunday. Mayor Acharya said that the necessary decision-making process of the district committee formed for the management of new settlements and resolving the problems of squatters is moving forward.

“Due to the devastating floods in Bhotekoshi, the work of settlement management was halted for a few days after the busyness of all concerned was focused on rescue and relief. Now, the rest of the decision-making process will be forwarded again. We have given priority to the rescue, relief, dead body management and humanitarian assistance rather than delaying the management or construction of the squatters’ settlement during the disaster,” Acharya said.

Stating that the monsoon is also gradually stopping, Mayor Acharya said that along with the resolution of the problem of the bus park area, the remaining work of Firke River will also be carried out simultaneously. The metropolis has said that the squatters of the bus park will be removed from the place where they are living only after making alternative arrangements.

The land was acquired in 2032 BS for the construction of a well-equipped bus park in Pokhara. Due to the lack of a bus park for five decades after the planned construction, there is a compulsion to leave the long and short distance buses from the road and footpath in the Prithvi Chowk area.

The bus park could not be built after the land inside the bus park was encroached upon by the squatters and some other people. Lately, the metropolis has removed the commercial shutters inside the bus park. After vacating the land of the bus park, the metropolis has already announced a plan to build a well-equipped bus park with the help of donor agencies.

The South Korean government has decided to provide support for the construction of a well-equipped bus park at Prithvi Chowk and for the management of smart transport in Pokhara. The Korean Development Agency (KOICA) has already committed to invest in the area to make the transport technology-friendly and environment-friendly.