No government agency, institution or organisation has returned land belonging to Tribhuvan University despite the expiry of a 35-day deadline set by the university to vacate properties identified as encroached.

On April 17, the university issued notices to 17 entities, asking them to return the land within 35 days.

Raj Bahadur Rai, chief of the university’s General Administration Division, said none of the organisations had handed back the land after the deadline expired on Friday.

“We wrote to 17 entities. Nine of them have sent responses,” Rai said. “Among them, three have informed us that they have started procedures to vacate the land.”

Some organisations informed the administration that they had issued notices to tenants occupying university land leased out by the organisations.

According to the university, land originally allocated to professor and employee organisations had later been rented out for commercial purposes, including petrol pumps, hotels and plant nurseries.

Rai said the organisations had issued their own 35-day notices to tenants after the university demanded the return of the land.

Officiating Vice-Chancellor Sushil Bahadur Bajracharya said the process of reclaiming the disputed land was underway.

“We are reviewing data related to land occupied by both government and private entities,” he said. “The organisations related to professors and employees have agreed to return the land. Recovering all encroached properties remains our priority.”

A university report states that professor and employee organisations had leased out nearly 20 ropanis of university land (about 9,916 square metres) to third parties for commercial use.

Tribhuvan University Employee Association chair Chhatra Karki said the administration had been informed that the land would be returned.

“We have notified tenants occupying land to vacate the premises,” Karki said. “The university will probably carry forward the remaining procedures.”

According to the administration division, several institutions, including BP Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum, Laboratory Secondary School, the National Ayurvedic Research Centre, Radha Soami Satsang Beas Nepal, Global IME Bank, and Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, have written to the university stating that they cannot vacate the land.

The Laboratory School, which has been using 108 ropanis (54,942 square metres) of university land free of charge, has proposed renting the land instead, according to the university administration. In its letter, the school said it was prepared to operate under the university’s management, citing the presence of 2,300 students, 200 teachers and staff members.

The BP Koirala Memorial Planetarium also informed the university that vacating the land was impossible, the administration said.

Radha Soami Satsang, meanwhile, requested the university to allow continued free use of the land on the grounds that it is a social organisation.

The university said several other organisations had not contacted the administration.

The university had also written to the Cricket Association of Nepal, the Warm Temperate Horticulture Centre, Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Limited, Nepal Bank Limited, the TU Lions Blood Transfusion and Research Centre, Kirtipur Municipality, the Nepal Electricity Authority and Kavindra JV, asking them to return disputed land.

The Cricket Association of Nepal had leased university land and, with government support, built the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground. Although the lease agreement expired in mid-May, a new agreement was signed in an initiative of Education and Sports Minister Sasmit Pokharel.

Professors and students at the university have suggested that future agreements should ensure that cricket activities do not disrupt the academic environment. They have long complained that matches and events at the stadium affect teaching and study activities on campus.

The public notice issued on April 17 directed all entities to immediately vacate and return university buildings, land and immovable property. It warned that the government would intervene to clear the land if it was not returned within the deadline.

A 2025 report prepared by the Tribhuvan University Land and Property Investigation Committee said that 21 organisations were occupying nearly 1,000 ropanis (508,720 square metres) of university land in the central campus area at Kirtipur alone.

The report recommended legal action against those involved through the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police and district administration offices.

The university’s Executive Council has also decided to reclaim land registered under the university’s ownership that is currently being used by individuals, companies and organisations.

Both the government and the university’s Executive Council have endorsed the implementation of the report.

A government-formed investigation committee said around 2,500 ropanis (1.27 million square metres) of university land across Nepal had been encroached upon, including properties in Kirtipur, outside the Valley and at constituent campuses.

The report said land and immovable property owned by the university and its affiliated institutions had been occupied, used or controlled by individuals, companies, organisations and agencies in violation of university regulations and prevailing laws.