The meeting between the ‘No Cable Car Group’ and the government negotiation team held on Sunday ended without any conclusion. The government representatives and the agitating ‘No Cable Car Group’ had reached a six-point agreement regarding the ongoing dispute over the construction of a cable car in the Pathibhara area on February 4.

According to the government negotiation team, they will issue a press release shortly regarding the talks.

Prem Prasad Bhattarai, the head of the government negotiation team, stated that they would soon publish a statement. However, Khagendra Makhim, a representative of the protesting group, said that the nearly one-hour-long discussion ended without any resolution. “We asked why the six-point agreement wasn’t implemented. However, they claimed that they had been working as per the agreement itself. So, we asked, why continue the talks if that’s the case?” he said.

The protesting group has demanded formation of a ministerial-level committee to continue the talks. Should the negotiations fail, the protesters have warned that they will take to the streets starting on Monday.

A 2.7 km cable car is being constructed from Kaflepati in ward 10 of Phungling to the temple. The agitating groups and individuals have been demanding that Pathibhara (Mukkumlung) should be preserved in its original state, as it is the heartland of the Limbu community.

The Mukkumlung Struggle Committee, the Cable Car Cancellation Joint Struggle Committee, the Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, and some political forces advocating for identity politics including the Rastriya Janamukti Party and the Loktantrik Rastriya Manch have been protesting against the cable car project.

They say that the Mukkumlung area is the traditional Mundhumi of the Limbu community. The agitators are against the construction of large infrastructure projects at the Mundhumi shrine.