The mine operators have committed not to overload the tippers operating to transport limestone from Palpa. The operators of all 10 limestone mines operating in the district have reached this agreement in a meeting called by the District Administration Office, Palpa on Tuesday based on public complaints. 

According to participants in the meeting held at the administration office, the limestone mine operators have committed to implementing the agreement by holding a meeting with the transport businessmen within a week. The meeting held at the administration office agreed that the tippers will not overload and that the company will not allow overloading, said Assistant Chief District Officer and Information Officer of the District Administration Office, Palpa. 

The meeting was attended by Chief District Officer Binu Bajracharya Kunwar, heads of security agencies, Division Forest Office, Transport Service Management Office, Traffic Police, and representatives of 10 limestone mining industries. He said that the meeting decided that the traffic police will effectively monitor and take action if overloaded vehicles are transported. It has been decided that mining industries will have to carry out all the activities related to social responsibility services and environmental services and not allow an environment of dispute to be created at the local level. 

Mining industries will have to operate industries by fulfilling the standards mentioned in the approved environmental study report to keep the environment clean. It has been decided that industries will have to pay the revenue and forest development fund, including the amount for limestone mining, annually to the concerned bodies. They have also expressed a commitment not to have any arrears in paying the revenue and forest development fund.

It has been decided that drivers of tippers used for transportation in mines who do not have driving licenses will not be allowed to be tipper drivers and that all documents related to the tipper will be kept in the vehicle, Assistant Chief District Officer Subedi said. Since only representatives of the limestone mine operators participated, it took a week. According to Gopal Bhattarai, representative of Kanchan Coirage Pvt. Ltd., it took a week to sit down with the businessmen. 

According to Khem Pangeni, Chief of District Traffic Police Palpa, all limestone mines have weighbridges (Dharmakanta). He said that if the industry loads according to the standards, there will be no action on the road. ‘The problem of overloading has been seen from the mines,’ he said, ‘This problem has arisen because of the arbitrariness of the mine operators rather than the transport businessmen.’ The traffic police take action, but they carry overloads without fail. He said that some people are sent to the transport office after they fail to take action even after repeated action. The responsibility of monitoring the load capacity of vehicles on the road lies with the Transport Management Office. 

According to Tikaram Neupane, Chief of the Transport Management Service Office, he said that since there is no Dharmakanta, it has not been possible to monitor and check the load of the tippers. Neupane, Chief of the Transport Management Service Office, Palpa, said that it is difficult to find time to check vehicles on the road due to other workloads. ‘It was said that the religious barrier should be installed when the mine was approved,’ he said, ‘This problem that needs to be solved is from the limestone mining industry. It should be solved from there. Either the religious barrier should be installed at the intersection.’

The road division had also invited tenders to install the religious barrier at the intersection of Tinau Rural Municipality. The road has also been widened and blacktopped. But so far, the religious barrier has not been installed at the intersection of the Butwal-bound checkpoint under the Siddhartha Highway. According to sources, the operators of the limestone mine and tipper businessmen have not allowed the religious barrier to be installed on the basis of accessibility.

‘As soon as the government religious barrier is installed, action will be taken and excess load cannot be carried,’ said a businessperson from Tinau, ‘That may be why it was not installed at the intersection.’ District Traffic Police Chief Pangeni said that there is a problem of road damage and accidents due to overloaded vehicles. There is a demand from citizens that vehicles carrying excess load should be checked on the road, fined and the excess goods removed. The road condition of the Siddhartha Highway from Bartung to Chidiyakhola is deteriorating due to the heavy load of vehicles. The road from Bartung to Harthok via Holangdi has also become slippery. The risk of accidents is higher on roads where tippers ply.