Traders of Suraj Arcade shuffle with KMC police

Traders of Suraj Arcade in New Road have started vacating the shops in the basement after a Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) police team instructed them to vacate the shops within 24 hours.

The KMC is preparing to demolish the illegally-built structures at the Suraj Arcade.

KMC has launched a campaign to vacate underground parking and structures that are built illegally.

Meanwhile, earlier, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Balen Shah, has clarified that it is the executive authority of the metropolis to remove illegally-built structures by using force. He said the KMC demolished only the structures that were built illegally.

He said that Section 11 (2) of the Local Government Operation Act, 2074 gives the right to mobilize the Metropolitan Police Force for the purpose of preventing and controlling unauthorized construction and encroachment of public property.

“The legal basis of any unauthorized construction work by encroaching on any public or government land is automatically void,” Balen wrote on social media.

“It is the first responsibility of the metropolis to immediately prevent and control any unauthorized construction work taking place in the capital city,” he said.

He said that the Metropolitan Police Force had to be mobilized to prevent and control illegal activities after giving a 35-day notice to comply with the law.

Meanwhile A scuffle broke out between the Kathmandu municipal police personnel and businessmen at Bira Complex in New Road in Kathmandu on Monday.

On Monday, a team including the municipal police, which reached there to inspect the illegal structures in the complex, was obstructed by the business people in front of the underground parking lot.

Kathmandu municipal police personnel, who came to inspect the wholesale shops inside, were stopped at the entrance due to the obstruction created by the business people. The metropolis police has claimed that the shops on the ground floor of the Bira complex are illegal.