Pokhara, April 6 -- Conflicting claims have emerged between Home Minister Sudan Gurung and the landowner over land the minister leased near Phewa Lake in Pokhara, as the metropolitan city intensifies the removal of structures within a 65-metre restricted buffer zone along the lakeshore.

Minister Gurung said the project was planned for adventure tourism, including a swimming pool and related structures, with an investment of around Rs15-20 million. He said work was halted after municipal authorities informed him that the land fell within the restricted zone. "We stopped the work after that," Minister Gurung told the Post.

He alleged that the landowners had assured him the property lay outside the restricted area. "We were misled," he sai...