Expulsions : affrontements à लाजिम्पाट Lazimpat (Katmandou) – 4 février 2012

10 hurt in clashes as demolition drive rolls on

thehimalayantimes.com

2012-02-04

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE Maharajgunj

KATHMANDU: Tension gripped Lazimpat throughout the day after the Kathmandu Valley Town Development Enforcement Committee, with backing from riot police, started bulldozing illegal structures alongside the Lainchour-Maharajgunj road as part of a road-widening campaign under way in the Capital.

Riot cops rained batons on local people demonstrating against bulldozing of parts of their houses and compound walls, while the locals pelted police with stones in course of the drive that saw razing of parts of more than a dozen private houses and compound walls of the Department of Mines and Geology, Hotel Ambassador, Standard Chartered Bank and Hotel Shankar.

The clashes left more than 10 civilians and police personnel injured, an official said, adding that police briefly detained eight protesters. DIG Ganesh Raj Rai, in-charge of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, said officials continued with the demolition drive amid the protest. KTDEC officials demolished illegal structures built on up to eight metres on either side of the road. Officials also started pulling down structures built on encroached land along the Dilli Bazaar-Kalikasthan stretch today. Rampant encroachment along the core areas of the city has not only become an urban eyesore, but has also hampered traffic. Read more…