Local planning modality in the context of present land use policy in nepal a case study of Bhardrapur Municipality, Nepal Dahal Kedar Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal Online published on 12 April, 2019. Abstract High population growth rate, lack of physical infrastructure, small sized land parcels and subsistence farming practices have resulted in low production and productivity. Similarly, high rate of migration from hill to Terai (plain), and rural to urban area have also created unplanned settlement and loss of huge agriculture land transforming into built-up area. To cope with these challenges, available land should be managed properlyand keeping intact of agriculture and forest land. Land use planning is one of the tools for getting optimum benefit from scarce land resource. Sustainable socio-economic development of municipality is highly dependent on the proper utilization of available land resources. Therefore, a comprehensive land use plan for Bhadrapur municipality is proposed. About 70% of total land of Bhadrapur Municipality covers agriculture zone whereas forest land use zone covers 6.17%. Similarly, residential land use zone has 11.35% coverage, while riverine and lake area cover 4.95%, and public use and open space zone cover 5%. About 56% of agricultural land of Bhadrapur municipality have been proposed for cereal crop production, 37.11% for cash crops (tea cultivation) and 7.32% for agroforestry. Top Keywords Land use, Land capability, Soil, Satellite image, GIS, Agriculture land, Residential, Public use, Population growth, Urban area. Top |