The Chitwan National Park has issued a 15-day notice to vacate encroached areas, warning of fines and imprisonment if the deadline is not met.

In a notice issued on Tuesday, the park said those failing to vacate within the stipulated time will face penalties depending on the offence. It said offenders could be fined up to double the assessed amount, along with one year of imprisonment if the loss is quantified. In cases where the loss is not quantified, the penalty includes a fine of up to Rs20,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both.

Encroachment has long been reported in and around the park, particularly in its southern sector, including the settlement now known as Hanumanjhula in the Bandarjhula area. The settlement began in 1990 when people from different districts started moving there. During the 2001 state of emergency, the settlement was cleared in winter, but residents later returned.

“I have heard about the notice. The park has always labelled us as encroachers, so this feels targeted at us,” said Jagaram Praja Chepang, a resident. He said villagers are planning a meeting on Thursday or Friday to decide their next steps after seeking clarification from authorities.

Praja, whose family moved there in 1993, said they came to Bandarjhula after floods and landslides displaced them in Raksirang, Makawanpur. The settlement lies about 75 km southwest of Bharatpur and can be reached after an 18-km forest stretch from Madi towards the east.

Infrastructure remains limited in the area. There is no proper road access or electricity supply. “Before elections, leaders from major parties came asking for votes. Rastriya Swatantra Party leader Sobita Gautam [elected from the constituency] also visited and promised to construct roads and provide electricity. We are still waiting,” he said.

Ganesh Panta, senior conservation officer at Chitwan National Park, said the park is working on a phased plan to clear encroachments. “In the first phase, we will remove temporary structures used for businesses but not for residence,” he said, adding that affected areas have already been identified.

In the second phase, the park plans to remove structures built by those who own land elsewhere but have encroached on park or buffer zone land. “The third phase will address large and old settlements like Bandarjhula. We are still preparing for how to proceed,” Panta said. Bandarjhula alone has around 500 to 750 households, he added.

Local officials said the notice has created uncertainty among residents. “People in ward 13 of Khairahani Municipality are worried about what might happen,” said ward chair Kul Prasad Bhusal. He said around 500 households in the ward have been affected. “Most of these settlements are old, dating back to around the 1980s. I urge residents not to panic,” he said.

According to the park’s annual report for fiscal year 2012-13, about 1,016 hectares of land had been encroached. The current estimate by the park chief places the figure at around 1,100 hectares.

Bandarjhula alone accounts for about 451 hectares of encroached land, the report states. Other affected areas include Sunachuri in Makawanpur (114 hectares), and parts of Ayodhyapuri, Gardi, Patihani, Meghauli, Gitanagar in Chitwan, along with Kumarwarti, Narayani, Dibyapuri and Mukundapur in Nawalparasi East, and Thori and Nirmal Basti in Parsa.

The report also notes that encroachment includes about 421 hectares across several locations in these districts.

In 2016, the Cabinet decided to alter the park boundary, removing the Gajgraha area from within the park and adding 21 square kilometres of the Padampur area. The decision also placed 37 hectares of Gajgraha under buffer zone status for religious use, effectively excluding it from the core park boundary.