Kathmandu, May 4 -- Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Monday said recent steps to clear informal settlements are aimed at ensuring housing rights and finding a lasting solution, not displacing residents.

In a statement posted on Facebook amid growing backlash, Shah said the government is serious about attempts to spread fear among people living in informal settlements.

He said encroachment along riverbanks and public land is being addressed in line with the law, adding that some provisions of the Land Act, 1964, have been scrapped through an ordinance to remove legal hurdles to long-term solutions.

Authorities have in recent weeks intensified eviction drives across the Kathmandu Valley, targeting settlements along river corridors and pub...