Sarlahi District Administration Office (DAO) decided to impose the ban as quarrying activities have severely affected the health of local communities and damaged the local environment, informed Rama Adhin Yadav, chief district officer.[break]
He said the export of the construction materials has promoted illegal quarrying actitivies in the district.
The DAO banned the transport of sand and aggregate from the district to India after a meeting among DAO officials held on Thursday.
“We decided to impose the ban as locals have been complaining frequently about the illegal quarrying activities in the district. With the ban in place, action will be taken against the illegal activities,” said CDO Yadav.
Even though as many as 23 crusher operators are registered in the district, only 11 of them are authorized to export sand and aggregate to India, according to the District Development Committee (DDC).
Apart from the ban, the DAO has launched a monitoring campaign. The monitoring team is led by Assistant CDO Ramu Prasad Upadhaya.
“After carrying out the monitoring, the team will prepare a report for the DAO. Depending on the findings of the team, the DAO will decide whether to lift the ban or not,” said CDO Yadav.
Last fiscal year, six various crusher operators in the district had exported 54,300 cubic meters of aggregate to India, said Ram Prasad Chaube, an official at Sarlahi customs office. “The government had collected Rs.10,860,000 in revenue from the export of the construction materials from Sarlahi district.”
Meanwhile, stakeholders and civil rights activists have alleged that crusher operators in Sarlahi district are using excavators in collusion with various government agencies. According to them, the illegal quarrying has been taking place at a fast pace along the Bagmati and other rivers in the Chure range for the last two months.
Ugra Kanta Jha, a civil rights activist in the district, alleged that Jor Ganesh Crusher and Hari Om Aggregate Crusher quarry along the Bagmati with excavators every night.
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