The Division Forest Office, Palpa, has instructed to stop the quarrying and transportation of limestone materials from July 1 until further orders. Due to the problems that can be caused by road accidents and damage to the infrastructure of the main and subsidiary roads during the rainy season, it has been decided to stop the excavation and transportation.

Narayandev Bhattarai, Head of Division Forest Office, Palpa, said that based on the mining scheme approved by the Mining Department and the agreement made with the Forest and Land Conservation Department, there is a provision to stop mining and transportation for a certain period. 

"Ignoring the monsoon disaster, the limestone mining industry has been excavating and carrying out the directives," he said.

Currently, due to the monsoon disaster (floods and landslides during the rains), the road will be damaged when heavy equipment is used in the limestone mining area, which is used as raw material for the cement industry, according to the Division Forest Office. From July 1, 2082, until further orders, it has been decided to completely stop the excavation and transportation of limestone and other materials from all mining industries in Palpa district. 

The Division Forest Office has informed that instructions have been sent to all the local levels where mining has been conducted. "Since the meeting of the District Forest Protection Committee has decided to close it completely from July 1, a notice has been sent to all concerned to do so," said Divisional Forest Chief Bhattarai.

According to the Department of Mines and Geology, the operators of limestone quarrying industry will get permission for excavation and transportation for 270 to 300 days a year. Ashok Thakur, representative of Best Cement, said that limestone quarrying in Kachal has been stopped. He said that although the excavation is going on in Shiddeshwar of Rainadevi Chahara, it will stop when there is heavy rain. 

Bharat Thapa, the owner of the Kanchan Coiriz limestone mine, said that the excavation and transportation is going on because there is no heavy rain. He said that when there is heavy rain, excavation and transportation will be stopped. But the mine operators used to stop transportation and mining from June 1 when the country was a district development committee before the country entered into a unified structure. 

District-level monitoring was done and tippers and tractors were completely closed from June 1. After 2074, Tector and Tipper Nirbadh has been operating. He told District Coordination Chief Tankanath Khanal that in recent times it is not their right but the local level to issue notices. Palpa Chief District Officer Toy Narayan Subedi said that he was not aware of this matter.

He said that action will be taken against cargo vehicles carrying more than their capacity and said that he was ignorant about the tippers plying on the highway after June 1. After June 1st till the middle of August, the operation of tractors on rural roads and tippers on main highways has been banned, so these decisions are meaningless in recent times.

When the local government stopped the operation of tractors on the unpaved roads in the rural areas for road safety, the tipper transporting 25 tons of construction materials on the highway with a capacity of 10 tons ran unharmed. Although some limestone mines were closed, some mining industries were operating. 

Best Cement and CG Cement as well as Kanchan Coirijs have been carrying out quarrying and transportation. Chandra Bahadur Khatri, a local resident, said that since the rainy season has started, even the roads that were repaired a month ago have become potholes when tippers with more than their capacity are plying on the main and rural roads. 

'How can the road be safe when a 10-ton carrier carries 20 and a 20-ton carrier carries 35 tons on the highway? I think who is going to stop it?

The bridge and culvert over the small river on the Palpa-Butwal road section of Siddharth Highway has been damaged. The black sheet of the road, which was repaired some time ago, has come off. In some places, the road itself has been washed away. Krishna Bahadur Khatri, a resident of Tansen, said that the drain was damaged by the tipper.

'It is seen that the road from Harthok to the rural municipality has been destroyed,' he said, 'The road that was repaired from Dhungakhani to Butwal has been completely destroyed.' Dolomide in Tinau, Alpha Cements Pvt Ltd, Siddharth Minerals Pvt Ltd, Best Cement Pvt Ltd, Kanchan Quarries Pvt Ltd, Satyavati Chundhunga Mining Pvt Ltd, Palpa Cement Pvt Ltd in Mathagadi, VS Cement, Alpha Cement Pvt Ltd in Tinau and Hongsi Cement Pvt Ltd in Nisdi, Best Cement Pvt Ltd in Rainadevi Chahara and CG in Somadi and Shiddeshwar Cements have been expanding the quarrying of limestone.