Three months after bulldozers demolished their homes, families claiming to be landless squatters in Kohalpur have started returning to the site, carrying bamboo poles and tarpaulins to erect new shelters. They vow to stay there until the authorities guarantee permanent resettlement.

They arrived at Shantinagar area in ward 11 of Kohalpur Municipality in Banke, early on Saturday, where their homes had been demolished in May. Some cleared debris, while others erected bamboo frames and stretched tarpaulins over them. By afternoon, dozens of makeshift shelters had gone up.

The return has reopened a dispute over how the authorities should deal with people living on public land for decades. The families say they were left without a secure alternative after their homes were demolished and the repeated requests for settlement went unanswered.

“We were left in misery after the bulldozers razed our homes. We submitted memorandums and staged demonstrations demanding proper management, but nobody heeded,” said Bir Bahadur Damai, coordinator of the Squatters and Unorganised Settlers Struggle Committee in Kohalpur. “That is why all the affected families have returned and put up tarpaulins.” He said the families did not intend to build permanent structures immediately but would continue their protest under tarpaulins until they were given a permanent place to live.

On April 29, Kohalpur Municipality had issued a 10-day notice and demolished 751 houses and sheds in the area on May 9. It moved 110 families to a holding centre at the Kohalpur bus park. The evicted families say they had been living on land owned by the Kohalpur Town Development Committee for more than three decades.

Radhika Shahi, one of those displaced, said the demolition had disrupted every part of her family life. Her children’s education was affected, she said, while finding a rented room proved difficult because landlords were reluctant to rent to families displaced from the settlement.

“Our lives have been thrown into chaos. Our children could not study, and we did not feel safe. The state did not listen to our demands,” said Shahi. “After three months without any alternative, we had no choice but to return to this same place.”

The victims complain that the local government evicted them without making a proper plan. Karna Bahadur BK, another displaced man, said the local government had displaced his family of 14 and complained that an assurance to provide land had not been fulfilled. The families say they want the municipality to hold talks with them and work out a proper solution.

The situation turned tense briefly on Saturday after Nepal Police, Armed Police Force personnel and municipal police tried to remove the returning families. The residents demanded not only permanent housing and land ownership but also access to education, drinking water, healthcare and employment.

Bir Bahadur Thapa, chief of Kohalpur Municipal Police, said the mayor had already spoken to representatives of the displaced families and that an arrangement for talks between the two sides has been made for Monday. He said the municipality was moving ahead with a process to identify and manage genuine landless families.

According to Thapa, municipal records show that people claiming to be landless come from 23 districts and 68 local units. The municipality has written to the local governments concerned to verify their claims of being landless.

The dispute in Kohalpur comes amid a wider debate over the eviction and resettlement of informal settlers. Hundreds displaced by the government’s eviction drive in Kathmandu Valley and other parts of the country are still awaiting permanent resettlement. Authorities had set up holding centres, but families complained about overcrowding, poor facilities and uncertainty over their future.