High-Level Intervention in Phewa Lake Conservation
Pokhara, March 31 — Following the integration of Phewa Lake conservation into the government’s ‘100-point roadmap for administrative reform’, Prime Minister Balendra Shah personally contacted Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhanraj Acharya on Sunday. The prime minister requested a detailed progress report on the removal of illegal structures around the lake. Acharya provided an overview of the milestones achieved so far, prompting Shah to emphasize the need for close coordination with the federal tourism minister to accelerate the process.
This intervention aligns with the Shah government’s commitment to its 100-point agenda, which includes specific measures under point 76: the removal of encroachments, restoration, landslide management, source protection, and climate change adaptation in the Phewa Protected Watershed Area. The agenda sets a three-month timeline to initiate these actions through stakeholder participation to ensure effective protection of the watershed.
Political Stakes in Pokhara
The political landscape in Pokhara is particularly complex. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Khadak Raj Paudel (known as Ganesh) represents Kaski constituency 1. During the 2022 local elections, when Acharya was elected mayor of Pokhara Metropolis, Paudel also contested as an independent candidate under the same election symbol that had propelled Shah to Kathmandu’s mayoralty.
Paudel received around 3,000 votes in Pokhara but did not win the mayoral race, later moving into federal politics. Now, with the lake’s conservation at the center of national discourse, the focus has shifted to the slow implementation of Supreme Court rulings.
Historical Context of Phewa Lake
Understanding the stalled implementation of judicial mandates requires examining the historical context of Phewa Lake. The current form of the lake largely resulted from geographical shifts after 1961. In that year, the Nepal-India Cooperation Mission constructed a dam on the eastern side of the lake, and the government introduced its first land acquisition and compensation policies.
Historical records suggest the lake spanned 4 square miles (10.36 square kilometers) at that time, though contemporary researchers have struggled to verify this figure. The legal framework for protection began in 1973 with the approval of the Pokhara Town Plan, which designated Phewa Lake as a protected area. It strictly prohibited any construction within 200 feet (60.69 meters) of the lake’s perimeter.
Legal and Environmental Challenges
A catastrophic failure of the Phewa dam in 1974 changed everything. As the dam collapsed, water levels receded, exposing vast tracts of the lakebed. Local residents began cultivating this newly exposed land, leading to the 1976-1977 land survey where many registered these lands as private property.
By 1981, when a new dam was completed, these “private” plots were once more submerged. A 1981 study by the Nepal government and UNDP recorded the lake’s area at a diminished 5.8 square kilometers. The 65-meter buffer zone rule traces its roots to a 2007 decision by the Kaski District Council.
In 2011, advocates filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court, naming the Office of the Prime Minister and 15 other government agencies as respondents. Then Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai formed a high-level committee led by Bishwa Prakash Lamichhane, which revealed that 1,692 ropani (2,498.29 hectares) of lake land had been illegally registered in the names of individuals.
Judicial Mandates and Current Efforts
In 2018, Supreme Court Justices Om Prakash Mishra and Sapana Pradhan Malla issued a landmark order directing the government to fix the lake’s boundaries within six months, remove structures within the 65-meter zone, and acquire necessary land by paying compensation. However, years passed without action, leading to cases of contempt of court.
In 2020, the KP Sharma Oli government formed another committee led by Punya Paudel, which recommended a lake area of 5.726 square kilometers—a figure later gazetted. The conflict escalated further when then Mayor Man Bahadur GC tried to reduce the buffer zone from 65 meters to 30 meters in 2021, facing immediate legal challenges.
On June 20, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered its final verdict, clarifying that the 65-meter zone must be maintained as a “green zone” and all unauthorized structures must be removed within six months. Crucially, the court ruled that land registered after the 1976 survey was fraudulent, interpreting the Land Revenue Act 1977 to mean that any public or government land registered by individuals is automatically void.
Implementation and Financial Hurdles
To implement this, a facilitation committee was formed in November 2023 under Gandaki Province Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey. A technical sub-committee led by Chief Survey Officer Gangalal Pokhrel was tasked with identifying the lake’s highest water level and demarcating the 65-meter boundary. Using DGPS technology and drone surveys, the sub-committee recently determined the lake’s area to be 6.343 square kilometers—significantly larger than the previously gazetted figure.
“We have identified 1,055 digital points and installed 611 pillars around the lake to mark the boundary,” explained Prakash Subedi, head of the Pokhara Valley Town Development Committee. Mayor Dhanraj Acharya noted that nearly 4,800 land plots fall within the 65-meter buffer zone. “We are currently distinguishing between public land, fraudulently registered land, and legitimate private land that requires compensation,” Acharya said. He admitted that recent Gen Z protests, during which the Town Development Committee building was set on fire and vital documents destroyed, have resulted in significant delays.
Economic and Environmental Implications
The financial hurdle is staggering. A 2019 study estimated that if the government implements the 65-meter rule, it would have to demolish 500 permanent structures. Compensation based on government valuation would cost Rs10 billion, while market rates would push the figure above Rs40 billion.
Local entrepreneurs are already fighting back. On May 3, 2024, twenty-two residents, including Surya Bhujel, filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court to halt demolitions. “The government wants to demolish billions of rupees worth of hotels without a clear plan or fair compensation,” Bhujel argued. “The Lamichhane report suggested a 30-meter buffer for certain areas like Lakeside. Why ignore that now?”
While the legal and financial battles rage on, the lake itself is dying. Environmental data from the Ministry of Forests suggests that 142,359 tonnes of soil gets washed into the lake annually. If this siltation continues unchecked, experts warn the lake could vanish within 75 to 100 years.
“We are removing structures on public land already,” Mayor Acharya stated. “But for private land, we need a massive budget to pay compensation. This cannot happen within 100 days.”
As the prime minister’s deadline approaches, Pokhara remains a city divided between the judicial mandate to save its greatest asset and the economic reality of the people who built their lives on its shores.
