On the morning of March 7, a clash broke out at Lakeside, Pokhara Metropolitan City, during the Kotihom Bhumi Pujan ceremony, leaving 19 people injured. The clash occurred between the event organizers and the municipal police, as the event was being held without approval from the metropolitan authorities.
The injured included Manoj Pahadi, 44, Santosh Bhusal, 46, Kumar Basnet, 45, Sunil Shrestha, 41, Anup Dawadi, 30, and Somnath Subedi, 30, all from Pokhara Metropolitan City-6, Lakeside. Other injured individuals were Pushpa Badu, 45, from Suryabinayak Municipality-5, Bhaktapur, Milan Sherpa, 22, from Chhoso, Gokulganga Municipality-2, Ramechhap, and Khemraj BK, 21, from Dhangadhi Metropolitan City-12, Kailali. Umesh Parajuli, 23, and Raj Puri, 25, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-6, Lakeside, also sustained injuries. The injured were treated at Metrocity Hospital and Gandaki Medical College. Additionally, eight Metropolitan Police officers were injured, including Bhuwan Thapa, 26, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-17 Birauta, Simanta Tharu, 27, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-25 Hemja, Saroj Pun, 30, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-8 Srijana Chowk, Gulshan Chaudhary, 23, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-15, Deuki Karki, 24, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-17 Birauta, Buddhisagar Ranabhatt, 29, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-5 Malepatan, Yashodha Poudel, 31, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-13 Arbha, and Dependra Shah, 27, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-3 Nadipur. These officers were also treated at Metrocity Hospital and Gandaki Medical College. In the aftermath of the clash, Jinith Chhetri, 23, from Pokhara Metropolitan City-6, Lakeside, was taken into police custody along with an iron rod. The police later released him into the custody of his relatives.
The conflict escalated when municipal police arrived at Barahi Ghat to halt the ceremony, and youth from the organizing party began attacking. Some youths were seen carrying sticks and rods. On February 24, 2025, Pokhara Metropolitan City petitioned at the High Court of Pokhara to stop the Kotihom event. On February 13, 2025, the High Court dismissed the interim order, stating that no further interim orders would be issued and instructed that all petitions be prioritized.
The Nepal Seva Foundation, organizer of the Mahayagya, had planned the Kotihom Mahayagya to take place 65 meters from the shoreline of Phewa Lake. Mayor Dhanraj Acharya stated that the ceremony had been halted due to the required demarcation of the lake boundary and the lack of permission from the metropolitan city. The Manav Sewa Foundation also announced plans to hold the ‘Shree Gandaki Shatakundiya Gayatri Kotihom Birat Gyaan Mahayagya’ at Lakeside from April 30 to June 9, 2025. Previously, after the foundation had indiscriminately cut down trees in Pokhara, the municipality had seized the logs.