Land pooling : readjustment programmes in Nepal
Oli, Punya P.
The growth of urbanisation started in Nepal during 1980s. The annual urban population growth rate is about 5% and about 25% percent of Nepalese live in urban areas. The city areas are expanding as per the need of housing without planning, and prior provision of infrastructures. As per the cadastral survey, only 23% of territory belongs to the private ownership which is mostly good agricultural land and being urbanised. The average size of parcel is about 180 sq. m. The infrastructures added later date after construction of the building. The present urbanisation is neither planned nor sustainable nor will meet Million Development Goals (MDG).The squatter settlements are also illegally settled by political parties' cadres to their supporters in vulnerable and unsafe areas of public places. Department of Housing and Physical Planning of Nepal is planning to develop modern cities through land pooling (readjustment) programmes as per the Town Development Act 2045.It is difficult to have consent of 51% of land owners prior to the execution of land pooling programme and support of government for infrastructures development, and assistant to landless and very small land owners on land contribution. The land pooling method is the only programme which will assist on sustainable urban development with appropriate infrastructures, and land consolidation without financial assistance of the government, most of land litigation will be solved and nobody will be evicted from their areas. The land pooling programmes, if implemented will assist in meeting the MDG and climate proof goals. In this article, various problems including training stakeholders and their solutions are explained in Nepalese context.
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