Sundarharaicha Municipality to kick off land use-related works

Sundarharaicha: The Sundarharaicha Municipality in Morang district has started formulating plans and works relating to land use in line with the government’s National Land Use Policy.

The Policy was introduced in 2019 to regulate land management and ensure sustainable use of land resources in the country. According to Sundarharaicha Municipality’s spokesperson Roshan Prasad Dhakal, the Municipality had started preparatory works relating to implementing the land use-related policy in the Municipality having a 110 sq km area.

Interaction programmes were initiated among locals and stakeholders at the ward level to facilitate the technicians in the categorization of the land in the Municipality which has 80,518 people as of the 2011 census.

Picaso Consultancy has been awarded a contract to categorize the land in the Municipality which began works in ward no 10 and 12. Consultant Tara Khatiwada shared that the land use-related works would be taken forward based on the existing state of the land, productivity, population estimate, land price and rate of plotting among others.

The Municipality, however, will undertake land use council’s work itself, added Khatiwada. He said that at least two kattha of land were needed in agricultural land and at least 7.5 dhur of land was essential for residential purposes.

The land will be categorized into agriculture, residential, industrial and forest and watershed and other areas ensuring participation of the local community. The new system of categorization will be put in place in lieu of Abbal, Goyam, Sim and Chahar, the traditional ways of land categorization.

Data would be collected and mapping conducted in the first phase. Other works will follow thereafter, informed spokesperson Dhakal.