The government might realign the planned Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway if its last-ditch effort to acquire land in Khokana, Lalitpur, fails as the local residents have been protesting against the hazards of mega development projects there.

The Ministry of Defence, together with Nepal Army which has been assigned to develop the project, has started negotiations with the locals for land acquisition.

The government will form a high-level committee to deal on compensation for landowners. However, if the committee fails to find a solution, the government will change the alignment of the fast track, according to officials. Measuring 76 kilometres, the expressway will significantly reduce travel time from Nijgadh to Kathmandu to an hour.

People of Khokana, one of oldest settlements in Kathmandu Valley, are protesting against the Army’s plan to acquire their land. They have been demonstrating against the “assault on heritage sites, livelihood and our indigenous identity” by using their land for different projects including the expressway.

The locals have got the support of conservationists, cultural experts, campaigners and environmentalists in their move.

Khokana residents claim that 60 percent of their land will be lost if it is pooled for five ongoing development projects. The government also plans to construct the Outer Ring Road, Bagmati Corridor, a Satellite City and a transmission line via the village.

“People are questioning why their place had to be chosen for all these projects. We’ll try to convince them. If not, alignment of the expressway will be changed,” Defence Ministry Spokesperson Rishi Rajbhandari told the Post.

An earlier government led by KP Sharma Oli had handed over construction of the project to the Army, cancelling the decision of earlier governments to award it to an Indian company. The Defence Ministry, the Army, people’s representatives and local governments had an interaction on Wednesday with the locals from the traditional Newar settlement in southern Lalitpur for resolving the issue.

Even as no breakthrough was in sight, they have agreed to continue dialogue. The locals’ representatives had asked the government to increase the compensation amount and become sensitive towards conservation of centuries-old cultural practices before designing any development project.

Construction began nearly a year ago after former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal laid the foundation stone for the fast track in May. In the lack of a detailed project report, the Army is carrying out works based on the study carried out by the Asian Development Bank in 2008.