Government Moves to Amend Law Allowing Plot Division for Land Beneath Transmission Lines

The government is preparing to amend the law to allow plot division of land lying beneath transmission lines, enabling landowners to utilize the remaining area for other purposes.

According to Damodar Wagle, under-secretary at the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, a proposal for the third amendment to the Land Use Regulation, 2022 has been submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. The amendment aims to allow separate registration of land affected by transmission lines so that the remaining land can be used for production, sale, or as collateral in banks.

Currently, when transmission lines pass over a piece of land, the entire area is recorded under a single plot number. As a result, even the unaffected portion cannot be used for commercial or financial purposes, leading landowners to resist the construction of transmission lines.

“This has caused years-long delays in implementing key electricity projects,” said Wagle. “If only the affected land could be separately plotted, construction would proceed much more smoothly.”

He added that the ministry had forwarded the amendment proposal to the Cabinet before the Tihar festival, and it is likely to be endorsed in the next Cabinet meeting.

Previous Decision Yet to Be Implemented

Earlier, on March 28, 2024, the government’s National Problem-Solving Committee had decided to form a committee to create provisions allowing separate plotting of land under transmission lines so that the remaining land could be used for production and collateral purposes.

Under the existing land laws, a single plot owned by one individual cannot be subdivided except for sale or partition purposes. While plots can be separated for areas where transmission towers are installed, this does not apply to land merely covered by overhead cables, as the wires do not physically touch the ground. Consequently, the area under the wires cannot be legally separated from the rest of the land.

Frequent Local Obstruction in Transmission Projects

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has repeatedly faced land acquisition challenges in almost all transmission line projects. According to NEA spokesperson Rajan Dhakal, the construction of the 400 kV Hetauda–Dhulikhel–Inaruwa transmission line has been delayed due to unresolved land acquisition issues. “There has not been a single transmission line project where local landowners have not obstructed land acquisition over demands to separately plot land beneath the wires,” Dhakal said.

Earlier, similar issues had affected the construction of the Kohalpur–Surkhet–Dailekh 132 kV line. Likewise, the 220 kV Bharatpur–Bardaghat transmission line, stretching 74 kilometers, took 13 years to complete, and the 220 kV Khimti–Dhulikhel line also faced a 13-year delay due to local resistance.

According to the NEA, compensation for land beneath transmission lines typically ranges between 20 and 30 percent of the market value, determined in coordination with the Chief District Officer.

While land directly under transmission towers is fully acquired, the area within 15 meters on each side of the wires remains privately owned. However, since such land cannot be mortgaged or commercially utilized, landowners often block project work, leading to prolonged delays in the expansion of Nepal’s transmission network.