Bhaktapur: Government has continued demolition of squatters’ huts and houses by evacuating the illegal dwellers in various public places, especially the river bank of Kathmandu Valley.

On the second day of evacuation and demolition drive, security forces reached Manohara river bank in Bhaktapur along with heavy equipment and operators early this morning. They began flattening the illegal structures from 9:00am.

Chief of District Police Premises, Surya Bahadur Khadka, informed that the demolition of illegal structures kicked off with mobilization of 1,300 Nepal Police persons and 600 Armed Police persons from Bhaktapur district.

Some persons settling illegally had said they would dismantle their huts till 9:00am. Then, the demolition team including Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s dozers reached the site and began clean up.

The structures were flattened only after the settlers evacuated with removal of their chattels. There are 777 huts in the riverbank settlement, which is raised over times.

Seven concrete houses set up illegally were razed on Saturday evening, which however faced hostility by the squatters, leaving 22 security persons injured.