MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

A modern apartment block with various facilities will be completed in Sankhamul soon. These apartments are not being constructed by a commercial housing company but by the government for the landless who live by the Bagmati in Sankhamul.

This is a pilot project launched by the government in an effort to solve the acute landless situation in the capital, where land is scarce.

This program was announced in the current fiscal year budget speech and it states that 20m of land from each side of the Bagmati would be set aside for the apartments.

Each flat will have two rooms, a toilet and kitchen for one family.

But the apartments do not come free of charge. Each landless family will have to repay a loan of Rs 350,000 at a minimum interest rate over a period of 15 years. However, Sankamul's 108 landless families are not all happy with the project.

The project is still awaiting approval by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. According to the working policy, the landless will be given the option of either getting land, paying for an apartment at a low interest rate or relocation to another place.