The Nepal Army has demolished 39 illegally built structures on its land in ward 6 of Melung Rural Municipality.

The structures, built over a long period, were cleared by a joint team comprising personnel from the Nepal Army’s Garud Dal Battalion, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force, Chief District Officer Shivaram Gelal said.

Authorities had issued a notice before launching the drive as part of an ongoing effort to remove illegal structures from public land. Gelal said similar encroachments across the district would be cleared.

Melung, which served as the district headquarters of Dolakha and Ramechhap until 1951 BS, housed a Nepal Army unit at the time. The Garud Dal Battalion had requested the administration to remove the encroachments to conduct training on its 69-ropani (35,102.56 square metres) land.