September 18: The Supreme Court has ordered the government to move ahead with its road expansion drive only after providing proper compensation to the land and building owners who followed the all the processes to construct their houses. A full bench of justices Kedar Prasad Chalise, Hari Krishna Karki and Purushottam Bhandari issued the verdict on September 17.

The apex court’s verdict comes in response to seven separate writ petitions filed by individuals affected by the government’s road expansion drive within the Kathmandu valley.

Around 200 residents residing along the road section from Tripureshwar to Nagdhunga as well as those from Chabahil, Koteshwar among other places had filed the writ. The petitioners had demanded the government to carry on with the expansion drive only after providing them adequate compensation.

The government had stopped the road expansion works after the valley denizens filed the writ petitions. The government had adopted a policy to expand the width of major roads to 25 meters on both sides from the center of the road. The petitioners had claimed that only highways should be of 50 meters wide and have requested the government only to expand the road to a maximum of 16 meters.