Forest Land Compensation in Development Project: Experience of Dodhara Chandani ICP/ICD, Nepal

Acquiring land for development purposes in Nepal requires compensation, regardless of whether the land is private or publicly owned. The state receives payment for public lands and forests, whereas landowners receive compensation for private land directly. The dual compensation system substantially raises the overall investment needed for development projects. In addition, the lengthy land acquisition procedure frequently causes project implementation delays, which affects both the efficiency and timeliness of development projects. This paper aims to find out the forest land compensation process, compensation amount, and timeline for land acquisition of the ICP/ICD, an important infrastructure development project in Dodhara-Chandani MP, Kanchanpur, Far West Province, Nepal. It only analyzes the physical compensation, the legal frameworks requisite for forest land acquisition and, the allied procedures involved in with the estimation of compensation costs and pricing for the Dodhara-Chandani ICP/ICD development project. It is based on the document analysis method like laws, policies, official documents, and records. Data was collected through consultations with authorities and interviews with related government officials. Due to the long process and long period, there has been a delay in the implementation of the project. The implementation process has not started yet. Therefore, it can be argued that the state itself has become an obstacle to the development and construction works that the state should do.