Even though the local level has awarded a contract to extract riverine materials from the Kaligandaki River, contractors and crusher entrepreneurs have been using machines contrary to the agreement.
What you should know
The issue of exploitation of the Kaligandaki River is always in the news in Parbat. Crusher entrepreneurs and some contractors have been exploiting the river indiscriminately, against the norms.
Large excavators are being used to extract stones, gravel and sand from the middle of the river. Even though the local level has awarded a contract to extract riverine materials from the Kaligandaki River, contractors and crusher entrepreneurs have been using machines contrary to the agreement.
The river is being exploited day and night, taking advantage of the busy administrative bodies during the elections. The Kaligandaki River is being exploited from Maldhunga in Parbat to Waribeni. The areas where these exploitations are taking place fall within Kushma Municipality and Jaljala Rural Municipality. Kaligandaki exploitation is continuing in Phalebas Municipality as well.
Kushma Municipality and Jaljala Rural Municipality have awarded contracts to extract riverine materials from the Kaligandaki River. The arbitrariness of contractors and crusher entrepreneurs has increased after the District Coordination Committee, District Administration Office and local bodies ignored the monitoring and action process. ‘Contracts also have their own criteria, can they enter the middle of the river and exploit it?’ Raj Shrestha, a local of Waribeni, says, ‘Who gave them the freedom to use machines wherever they find them when the local level is awarding contracts?’
The Supreme Court had issued an interim order on Ashad 29, 2078 BS to stop the excavation of Kaligandaki in the name of Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. In the order issued by former Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Jabra, it was asked to stop the decisions and actions taken to affect the beauty of the Kaligandaki River and change the natural flow of the river, build dams, and illegally extract shaligram and gravel-sand until the final decision of the writ petition.
Due to this order, the local level had not been able to award contracts in the Kaligandaki River for four years. On Kartik 11, 2081 BS, Supreme Court Justice Dr. After the bench of Kumar Chudal and Binod Sharma dismissed the writ petition, Jaljala Rural Municipality and Kushma Municipality had awarded the contract by allocating the land in Asoj.
There are four crusher industries registered in Parbat so far. One in Jaljala Rural Municipality, two in Kushma Municipality and one in Modi Rural Municipality. Apart from the crusher in Modi, other industries are operating near the Kaligandaki River, which is against the norms.
According to the ‘Standards for Excavation, Sale and Management of Stone, Gravel and Sand’ introduced by the government on 5th July 2077, it is mentioned that the operation of Makra Trasar is allowed from the banks of rivers or rivers, from paved bridges and highways and from historical lakes, ponds and reservoirs.
District Coordination Committee Chief Bishnu Ram BK has claimed that the Kaligandaki River is not being exploited as is being rumored. According to him, the monitoring of the excavations carried out in the places designated by the local level through the contract process has been completed. 'We have completed the first phase of monitoring in the places contracted by the local level,' he said. 'When we looked at all the details of the items, we found no indiscriminate exploitation of the river.' He informed that since the contract was awarded by the local level as per the legal process, revenue was also collected well.
Since then, no party candidate in Parbat has spoken about the exploitation of the Kaligandaki. Even in the past elections, the issue of Kali had not found any place. Some activists and youth have been continuously demanding that their agenda be made to resolve the exploitation of the Kaligandaki river.
Focusing on the election atmosphere, the activists of the Save Kaligandaki campaign have also been increasing the pressure. Campaigner RK Adipta Giri says that the commitment letter should mention natural heritage and stopping the exploitation of the Kaligandaki river. "Conservation of the Kaligandaki River is possible if political candidates rise above electoral gains and prioritize sustainable environmental interests," he said. "We do not want to see a degraded Kaligandaki."
