Fresh protests erupt in Nepal's Birgunj over road expansion project

Kathmandu [Nepal], July 5 (ANI): Local residents and business owners staged fresh protests in Birgunj on Saturday against the government’s road expansion project, demanding compensation and rehabilitation measures before roadside structures are demolished, The Himalayan Times reported.

According to The Himalayan Times, protesters led by the Birgunj Bachau Sangharsha Samiti and the Birgunj Youth and Traders Road Victims Struggle Committee burned tyres and raised slogans against the ongoing demolition drive.

The protests came after bulldozers deployed by the Hetauda Road Division Office and Birgunj Metropolitan City began removing structures built within the road’s designated right of way.

The Department of Roads plans to widen the city’s main road from Gandak Chowk to Miteri Bridge to 25 metres on each side. Local residents said the project would affect more than 1,100 property owners and thousands of businesses, the report said.

The demonstrators maintained that the road expansion should not proceed without a clearly defined compensation package and rehabilitation plan. They also warned that protests would continue until their demands were addressed.

Authorities, however, said they were implementing a ruling by the Supreme Court that removed legal obstacles to the long-delayed road expansion project and urged residents to remove structures located within the designated road boundary, The Himalayan Times reported. (ANI)

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