At the north-east border of Sunawal Aadarsh VDC-4, Turiyakhola, a group of people calling themselves as landless encroached 14 Bigahs of land and made huts at the river belt, claiming their right to occupy the land for their subsistence. However, those affected in the locality lodged a complaint against them. When the VDC issued a notice to leave the occupancy of the public land, the occupants refused to obey the VDC order. The VDC held a meeting of all-party representatives and the occupants to discuss the dispute. At the start of the meeting, VDC staffs were assaulted by the land occupants creating a situation for the police to get involved. The meeting was postponed for the next day. But the day, VDC staff protested the action of the previous day, padlocked the VDC office and filed a complaint at the CDO office against the land occupants. The District Police office and CDO office referred this case to Sunwal Civil Society, which referred the case to the Community Mediation Centre.
Once the case was registered, the mediators started the group mediation process. The disputants were so aggressive that they even tried to assault the mediators several times, and said they would not leave the land, which the VDC representative and local people were committed to protecting. After a few hours’ effort, the mediators could resolve this case, to the surprise of the police, CDO and the local community. The mediators were appreciated for their work. This story was published in news papers.
The land was voluntarily evacuated by the occupants within three days, where the VDC decided to build a local hospital and a bus park. The land will also be used for other community welfare purposes.
