Bagmati Province Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya has urged animal rights activists not to take the Elephant Festival lightly.

Inaugurating the Elephant Festival, Chief Minister Baniya said that democracy gives everyone the freedom to express their opinions and urged people not to take it otherwise as elephants are protected by humans. Recently, animal rights activists have been protesting against the festival for organizing it by abusing elephants. In the inauguration of the festival, which began despite the protests, Chief Minister Baniya defended the festival and emphasized its promotion. 'Animal rights activists say that human civilization attacked elephants, but that is not the case. Elephants are our friends. We should walk freely in the forest and promote it outside as well,' said Chief Minister Baniya.

He said that Sauraha is considered as the main tourist destination of Bagmati Province and the provincial government is engaged in its promotion. He said that entrepreneurs are facing problems while modifying (changing the size) of jeep safari vehicles, and the Bagmati Province government has taken steps to solve the problem through the Ministry of Transport to end it. He said that it has been informed that old hotels built without environmental impact assessment (EIA) are now facing problems due to the new provisions, and the provincial government is facilitating it. Chief Minister Baniya said that many tourists from India come to Nepal, and the Bagmati Province government is ready to promote tourism despite having international relations.