After years of legal wrangling and disputes, government authorities on Saturday launched a major demolition drive in the Hetauda market area, tearing down structures that had encroached on key sections of the East-West Highway and Tribhuvan Highway.

The Road Division Office in Hetauda began the demolition at around 5:30 am amid heightened security in the area. Nearly half a dozen bulldozers were deployed from Buddha Chowk to remove illegal structures erected along both sides of the road.

“We started the operation early in the morning and worked until 6 pm. Shutters, signboards, roofs and doors of 530 structures were dismantled,” said Guru Prasad Adhikari, chief of the Road Division Office. “From Ratamate to Chaukitol and from Buddha Chowk to the Rapti bridge, we carried out symbolic demolition using heavy equipment to reclaim the road boundary.”

The drive began by clearing buildings along the roadside, including a shop owned by Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City’s deputy mayor Rajesh Baniya. Local residents and shop owners stood by, watching the operation in silence, many with visible anxiety and frustration.

“We have been appealing to the government not to demolish our homes, but nobody listened,” said Ramahari Neupane, a local. “Destroying people’s properties without providing compensation is simply not fair.”

Chief District Officer of Makawanpur Basanta Adhikari said the day-long operation was focused on structures built by encroaching on the road. “The Road Division Office carried out symbolic demolition of both permanent and temporary structures that had illegally occupied the road reserve in the core market area,” he said.

Some party leaders and stakeholders criticised the demolition drive on social media. Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa described the action as 'state terrorism' in a Facebook post. At the same time, CPN-UML leader Krishna Prasad Dahal argued that demolition should be carried out only after compensating the victims.

Earlier, on November 21, the Road Division Office issued a public notice giving encroachers 15 days to voluntarily clear the road boundary. The deadline expired on December 5. As no formal directive to halt the operation was received, the demolition went ahead as scheduled.

After the notice announcing the demolition of structures in the Hetauda market area was made public, a writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court on December 2. Hearing the petition on Friday, the court issued a short-term interim order and summoned both parties for a discussion on December 12.

However, the Road Division Office said the court’s letter had not reached its office and that it could not suspend the pre-scheduled operation based solely on hearsay.

The office said the roads will be expanded to a total width of 75 feet along the East-West Highway from Ratamate to the Rapti bridge, and along the Tribhuvan Highway from Buddha Chowk to Samari bridge.

According to official records, around 531 structures fall within the 9.5-kilometre-long stretch marked for clearing.

This dispute dates back to 2016, when the first public notices were issued to vacate the road boundaries. However, repeated legal challenges filed by stakeholders in the High Court and Supreme Court stalled the process. The major legal obstruction was removed in December 2023 when the Apex court dismissed a case filed by 14 individuals seeking a writ of mandamus.

“The Supreme Court clearly interpreted that no compensation can be claimed for structures built within 75 feet on either side of the road centre,” said the chief of the Road Division Office. “That verdict finally opened the way for us to remove encroachments.”

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Kulman Ghising earlier held meetings with local administration, police and elected representatives, urging coordination to end the long-standing dispute.

Before the demolition, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Makawanpur, had requested the minister to halt the project and limit expansion to 16 metres while also proposing a bypass road. The government, however, maintained that it is moving ahead with plans to widen the Narayanghat-Hetauda and Pathlaiya-Hetauda road sections, for which the tender process is in its final stage.