Forced Evictions and Survival Strategies in Kathmandu Squatter Community

Abstract

The development of these squatter settlements in various cities is a representation of the ironies of the rapid urbanisation process, as the three factors of poverty, migration, and the lack of concern of the state coming together create areas of insecure livelihood. The paper evaluates a case study of Manohara squatter settlement in Kathmandu valley, Nepal, on the eviction forced in August 2025, displacing hundreds of people. This paper reviews the changes in livelihood based on a household survey of 51 evicted households, further intensified by field observations and livelihood investigation with reference to physical, financial, social, human, natural and political capitals. The findings suggest that eviction resulted in a sharp decline of housing security, economic stability, and access to ecological resources, and the household members were subjected to casual wage work and debt servitude and to a precarious status of housing. Social and human capital were not torn to pieces, yet they could not overturn long-established structural weaknesses established through displacement. The paper uncovers the fact that overlapping powers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Kathmandu Valley Development Authority constructed the evictions, in the context of environmental governance and organisation of urban spaces, without taking into account the experiences of the poor. Witness accounts of people living on the impacted hills support the psychological torment, loss of money and ambition, and disappointment that were caused by state intervention, and it was increased by the exploitative nature of land brokers operating on the ground. It has been found that eviction is not just an act of space but a process of compounding insecurities, compromising resilience, and an additional process of exclusion. The paper will assume that the path the Kathmandu valley must follow in an attempt to reduce poverty and inequality in a sustainable manner is inclusive urban planning, tenure recognition and rights-based housing policies.