July 4: Land Revenue Offices are preparing to implement the minimum valuation of land according to the classification of land in line with the newly introduced Land Use Regulation. In the past, the classification of land used to be done on the basis of the condition of road and soil, their weakness etc. But now, the minimum valuation will be done in a new way according to the nature of the land.

The Land Revenue Office, Panchthar is preparing to implement the minimum valuation by categorizing the land into agricultural, non-agricultural, commercial, housing and industry. Accordingly, the most expensive land will be the land in commercial area. Then, the land for the residential area will be the second most expensive. Based on the same, housing and commercial land seems to be 100 percent more expensive than the agricultural land.

In the districts where there is no industrial zone, preparations have been made to make the land of industrial zone cheaper than the agricultural land. Chief of the Land Revenue Office, Panchthar, Baburam Pokharel said that they are preparing to implement the land rate as per the minimum valuation after classification of land.

“This is not the final decision. We are planning to implement the minimum rate after taking the opinion of the experts and making some modifications. Even in the past, minimum valuation was prepared in coordination with the local level. And now as well, the minimum valuation will be prepared based on the opinions and suggestions presented by the local level,” said Pokharel.

The new valuation after the classification of land shows that the valuation of land in residential area will be twice as expensive as the cultivable land. Preparations are being made to classify the areas where business is done by renting shutters and evaluate the land as the most expensive ones. Land in residential areas that cannot be rented out but can be built as a house will be the most expensive. As complete classification of land is not possible now, classified land in non-agricultural sector will be the third most expensive.

The Land Revenue Office, Panchthar is preparing to make the valuation of land in the industrial zone cheaper than the agricultural sector as the land allotted for the new industrial zone will not be suitable for agricultural work. According to Pokharel, land in industrial areas can be more expensive than agricultural areas in areas where industrial areas have already been built.

Although the government has given the right to implement land use maps to the local level by classifying the land, the local levels are confused about how to proceed with this work. Experts say that local level representatives and staff, who do not know how to view the land use map, are skeptical about the timely implementation of the map.

The local level cannot classify the land alone. Therefore, Pokharel suggests experts should provide technical assistance to them and classify the land.