Local residents of Pashupatinath temple area picketed the office of  Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) forming a human chain on Wednesday, as the second round of protest program. The locals had been opposing the Pashupatinath Temple Master Plan claiming that it endangers ancient heritage.

The Pashupati Area Joint Struggle Committee has been launching sit-in protest, blackout among other protest programs since last Sunday. Committee’s coordinator Aashman Sangat demanded that the Trust should have representatives from Kathmandu Metropolitan City ward no 8, the State Assembly Member representing the same constituency and federal parliamentarian as ex officio members. Claiming that the Trust had built modern structures in and around the Pashupatinath Temple undermining the archaeological and religious significance of the place, a World Heritage Site. They have called on the Trust for keeping the Bankali Dharmashala closed for so long, which it could be brought into operation after minor maintenance and trading the pious land of the Hindu shrine for commercial purposes.