Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality of Kaski allocated 3 lakh rupees for the construction of stairs. After receiving the payment, the consumer committee had to submit 23 thousand 100 revenue to the rural municipality. After that, Shiv Bhandari of Machhapuchhre-8 expressed his anger on social media saying that the rural municipality could not collect revenue from the crusher businessmen, but even in the plan of 3 lakhs, they took the same amount of revenue.

He wrote, 'Is the law only for the people? Bhandari was unhappy that the municipality remained silent despite the abuse of authority inquiry commission repeatedly asking to collect revenue from the crusher businessmen. He says that even political parties are not interested. Machhapuchhre rural municipality has not been able to collect revenue from the crusher industry as much as the annual budget. The budget of the rural municipality is 65 million 65 million. 49 crore 14 lakh 31 thousand 297 revenue is yet to be collected from 3 crushers and one mining site operating in the rural municipality.

Rural Municipality has Barah Crusher Industry in Ward 2 Bhurjung Khola, Gandaki Agrogate in Ward 4 Chorkholsa and Seti Gandaki Crusher Industry in Jalkuni. JK Crusher Industry in Pokhara Metropolitan City excavates stone and gravel from Ward 3 Kharibot. These crushers operating on private land have operated the industry only with mining permission from the municipality. Some have mined more than what was mentioned in the Preliminary Environmental Assessment (IE) and some have operated crushers without getting the IE approved. 

In the last fiscal year, after the crusher did not report the revenue, the rural municipality asked Pokhara's Institute of Engineering Studies Western Campus to submit a report after determining the amount of excavation. The expert team of

campus submitted a report that 180 thousand 209 cubic meters of soil excavated from 4 places is 22 million 22 million 77 thousand 419 rupees and 12 million 98 thousand 35 cubic meters of stone, gravel, sand is 41 million 26 million 17 thousand 533 rupees and 49 million 14 million 31 thousand 297 rupees including VAT have to be recovered. This rate is as prescribed by the Gandaki state government. 

Barah crusher industry of Feuser has to pay 96 lakh 14 thousand 686 rupees revenue of 77 thousand 776 cubic meters of soil and 542 thousand 3 hundred 7 cubic meters of stone, gravel, sand 17 crore 23 lakh 87 thousand 915 rupees including VAT and 20 crore 56 lakh 62 thousand 939 rupees, it is mentioned in the report.

Gandaki Agrogate will have to pay Rs 13 crore 39 lakh 70 thousand 983 with VAT of Rs 11 crore 36 lakh 25 thousand 157 for the revenue of 39 thousand 96 cubic meters of soil and 49 lakh 33 thousand 2 hundred 34 rupees and 3 lakh 57 thousand 448 cubic meters of stone, gravel, sand. 

JK crusher industry has 18 lakh 79 thousand 250 rupees for excavating soil of 15 thousand 2 hundred 1 cubic meters, stone, gravel, sand for 1 lakh 15 thousand 5 hundred 3 cubic meters worth 3 crore 67 lakh 16 thousand 83 rupees including VAT 4 crore 36 lakh 12 thousand 726 rupees.

Similarly, Seti Gandaki crusher industry will have to pay Rs 10 crore 81 lakh 84 thousand 647 rupees including VAT of Rs 8 crore 98 lakh 88 thousand 377 for the revenue of 58 lakh 50 thousand 248 rupees for excavating 47 thousand 324 cubic meters of soil and 2 lakh 82 thousand 775 cubic meters of stone, gravel, sand. The amount of VAT should be paid to the union government, while the rural municipality should keep 60 percent of the remaining revenue and pay 40 percent to the state government. 

The meeting of the committee held on June 9 under the coordination of Sita Adhikari, the vice president of the rural municipality and coordinator of the revenue consultation committee, decided to collect the revenue and sent it to the executive. After the revenue did not rise, a complaint was lodged with the National Vigilance Center and the authority. The complaint stated that although the report was submitted to the Revenue Committee after the study by the Western Engineering Institute, the municipality chief, deputy chief and members of the executive committee tried to collude with the employees and demanded action. 

The Complaint Management, Investigation and Monitoring Branch of the National Vigilance Center wrote a letter to Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality last August 2 to provide a response with the necessary documents. In the letter, it was requested to send a reply with necessary documents within 15 days on issues like how many crusher industries are operating in the village, whether they are registered according to the rules or not, whether the executive has regulated and collected tax.

The Pokhara office of the authority also wrote a letter to the rural municipality on August 9 to provide certified documents with feedback. In the letter, asking questions like what is the truth of the complaint, why the crusher industry has not paid the amount due to the revenue, it was asked to provide the opinion/response and certified copy of the document within 15 days. 

Nepal Electricity Authority also filed a complaint against the rural municipality after the high-tension line tower was at risk due to the crusher. Hari Bahadur Chhetri, Chairman of Ward No. 9, said that whether the municipality gave a reply to this letter or not, and how it was given, the executive committee members are not aware. He said that although the issue of collecting revenue from the crusher was raised many times in the executive meeting, no solution was found. "We had to prove that report wrong, otherwise we had to implement it," he said. 

Rural Municipality Chairman Meen Bahadur Gurung said that although he wrote to the crusher industry to pay the revenue according to the report of the Institute of Engineering Studies, the businessman refused. 

According to him, after the businessman said that the report was not satisfactory, the executive meeting on February 4 decided to proceed with the necessary work in consultation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Then the municipality sent a letter to the Ministry on February 6 requesting for facilitation.

"The campus did not inform the businessmen, land owners and village councils during the assessment, they are not in contact now," said President Gurung, "It is not even possible to say that we will take this much depending on Hachuwa. He claims that he has written twice to close the illegally operated crusher. 

Bhojraj Paudel, the owner of Gandaki Agrogate, said that when the crusher was started, the revenue was fixed at 20 rupees per cubic meter, it was increased to 80 in the financial year 077/078, but now the revenue is fixed at the rate of 317 rupees, so he cannot pay. He alleges that without the knowledge of the businessmen, the excavation quantity was calculated based on estimates.

'We were paying revenue according to the first rule,' he said, 'We spent 5-6 crores on buying land. We may have sold material worth 10-12 crores, there is no possibility of paying the same amount of revenue. There is no option but to hand over the key of the house to the rural municipality. Rajesh Poudel, the owner of Seti Gandaki Crusher, admits that the crusher, which came into operation after 070, does not have permission. He revealed that he was unaware of the letter sent by the municipality saying that he had to pay so much revenue. 

According to Cholakant Regmi, chief engineer of the infrastructure development and environment management branch of the rural municipality, these crushers, which have been started since 076/77, have not even met the standards. The municipality does not have the right to register crushers. According to the Industrial Business Act, the crushers that need to be registered by the Industry Department are currently operating only on the basis of stone, gravel and sand mining, sales and management standards, 2077. These crushers are on the banks of Seti River and Mardi River. 

Gopikrishna Aryal, chief administrative officer of the rural municipality, said that all the crushers were operating the industry with mining permits. He said that although these crushers have submitted revenue in the beginning, they have not submitted it since the last financial year. "The quantity in the report submitted by the Institute of Engineering Studies is from the start of the crusher until now," he said. First of all, there is no registration. Secondly, it is difficult to renew the registration,' he said, 'what will be regulated for those who are not registered?'

Whose dues are? (Including VAT)

Feuser's Barah Crusher Industry : 20 crores 56 lakhs 62 thousand 939 rupees 

Gandaki Agrogate Crusher Industry: 13 crore 39 lakh 70 thousand 983 rupees

JK Crusher Industry: 4 crore 36 lakh 12 thousand 726 rupees

Seti Gandaki Crusher Industry: 10 crore 81 lakh 84 thousand 647 rupees