Despite the ban, transport entrepreneurs attempted to export sand and stones to India on Saturday through various border points. Customs officials, however, sent back all trucks laden with sand and stones acting on DAOs´ orders. [break]
"We immediately circulated the CA committee´s letter to not allow trucks to cross the border," said Shashi Shekhar Shreshtha, Chief District Officer (CDO), Morang.
Following the ban, transport entrepreneurs on Saturday blocked the East-West Highway demanding that the local administrations to lift the ban. But, the police cleared the highway by removing protesters from the streets.
"We used force to open the highway," Sudan Singh Basnet, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Saptari, told myrepublica.com.
It is learnt that HP Singh, manager of BSCC and CJV (Pvt) Ltd, an Indian crusher plant based in Kadmaha of Saptari, has been requesting chiefs of police and local administration to lift the ban.
In Morang, four crusher plants set up in Chisang and Gachhiya Rivers have stopped their works following the ban. Billions of rupees have been spent on setting up crusher plants by different companies across the Tarai.
For the last four years, hundreds of thousands of tons of sand and stones have been exported to India for the construction of a national highway connecting Indian capital Delhi to Guwahati. Environment exports had been expressing concerns over the damage caused by quarrying stones and sands. The CA committee had instructed the government to ban the export of natural resources to India following pressure from all sectors.
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