Despite a ban on excavation around the bridge, sand, gravel, and stone are being extracted using large equipment near the Seti River bridge.
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Riverine materials are being excavated indiscriminately around the concrete bridge on the Seti River under Dipayal Siliguri Municipality. Despite a ban on excavation around the bridge, sand, gravel and stones are being extracted using heavy equipment. According to locals, excavation is being carried out using JCBs on the riverbank. Locals have expressed concern that such excavation will change the natural shape of the river and increase the risk of the bridge collapsing. ‘Sand is being extracted using machines near the bridge,’ said a local, ‘The current impact may be small, but it could cause a big problem in the future.’
According to Dipayal Siliguri Municipality engineer Shiva Majhi, Doti-based Armed Construction has won the contract for Rs 3.05 million including VAT. "We have contracted to excavate the dredger with the permission of the district administration and the road division office," he said. "We are going to excavate it because sand, gravel and stones have accumulated above the bridge and will affect the bridge." Majhi informed that before starting this work, an EIA was conducted with a geologist and a road division engineer and only 16,400 cubic meters had to be excavated.
Road Division Office Engineer Gaurav Dhami said that there is a provision that excavation is not allowed within a 1-kilometer area around the bridge to protect the bridge structure and the natural flow of the river. Locals have alleged that the rule is being ignored here. The contracted businessmen are excavating sand and gravel from closer to the designated area.
According to locals, the trend of excavating the river using machines has increased. They say that such activities have raised questions about the long-term conservation of the river. The bridge built over the Seti River connects Bajura and Achham districts in the far west, and an alternative highway to Bajhang is also connected. Ramesh Bhattarai, head of the Road Division Office, said that excessive excavation in the area around the bridge could weaken the foundation of the bridge. “The river level will drop significantly, and the soil or sand at the base of the bridge may be removed,” he said. “This may affect the stability of the bridge.”
The district municipalities have been granting permission to excavate river-based materials through a contract process. The same has been done in KI Singh Rural Municipality and Shikhar Municipality in the district. Since the revenue received from the contract is spent on various local development projects, the local government sees the management of river-based materials as a financial resource. Local Shailendra Khadka said that there is a problem of weak monitoring after the contract is awarded. "After the contract is awarded, there is less monitoring of who is excavating from where and how much," he said. "The rules seem to be limited to paper only."
