KATHMANDU, Aug 28: In a highly controversial decision that may cause serious environmental degradation, the government has decided to let ´illegal´ crusher industries operating mainly in the Chure region to continue to operate for one more year, counting from mid-July, 2013.
A cabinet meeting on July 11, 2013 decided apparently under the undue influence of unscrupulous businessmen to allow the crusher mills to operate in the Chure region and elsewhere till mid-July, 2014, in contravention of a previous government decision to shut down altogether all crusher mills that do not meet the Initial Environment Examination (IEE) and Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) parameters by mid-July. [break]
Sources said the cabinet took the decision as per a proposal prepared by a seven-member secretary-level committee headed by Krishna Hari Banskota, secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The controversial recommendation, according to sources familiar with the development, was made under pressure from two cabinet members -- Minister for Science and Technology and Environment Umakant Jha and Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ram Kumar Shrestha who reportedly owns a crusher mill in Hetauda.
A proposal in this connection was taken to the cabinet by Minister Jha on behalf of the Environment Ministry. Repeated attempts by Republica to contact Jha for his comment could not succeed.
Over 200 crusher mills, most of them illegal, operate in the country primarily to export sand and crushed rocks to India. Out of estimated total transactions worth Rs 60 billion a year, Rs 50 billion worth of sand and crushed rock are exported to India.
Amid growing environmental concern over unchecked extraction and export of sand and rock from the Chure region and contiguous districts, the parliamentary Natural Resources and Means Committee of the erstwhile parliament had directed the then government on January 4, 2010 to immediately halt the export of sand and rocks to India. The sand and rock crusher operators had reacted with much hue and cry.
Among other things, the controversial cabinet decision, which was circulated to all the district administration offices concerned through the Home Ministry in the third week of July for implementation, allows crusher mills to operate just 200 meters from highways and 500 meters from academic institutions, healthcare facilities, places of cultural and archaeological importance and national forests.
This runs counter to a previous decision to allow such activities only at a distance of five kilometers from such sensitive sites. The decision may place even highway bridges under serious risk as there is no strong government mechanism in place to monitor the crusher industry.
"This is a glaring example how ministers who are not accountable to the people can take decisions of this kind for personal benefit. We had decided to direct the government to immediately halt the export of sand and rocks following an extensive study of the environmental impact," said Gagan Thapa, a member of the Natural Resources and Means Committee in the then parliament.
"I have come to learn that there has been huge corruption over this controversial decision. This is policy corruption. I want the concerned government body to investigate the matter and punish the officials involved," Thapa told Republica.
A division bench of Supreme Court Justices Bal Ram KC and Bharat Raj Upreti on August 6, 2010 separately issued a directive to the Prime Minister´s Office to formulate appropriate policy concerning the utilization of natural resources so as to ensure public welfare and the common good of all people. The directive issued in response to a writ petition filed by Advocate Narayan Prasad Devkota specifically directed the government to ensure that crusher mills would not adversely affect the environment, among other things. It also gave such mills a two-year deadline to wind up their operations.
Accordingly, Administration Reforms Recommendation Committee, in a list of tasks to be carried out immediately, had recommended to the government in May 2013 to direct all chief district officers to shut down all illegally operating crusher mills and enforce the policy of not allowing any such activities within five kilometers of the Chure and forest areas. A circular to this effect was sent to district administration offices across the Tarai and other regions in mid-April, asking them to take administrative measures to shut down the crusher mills and save the Chure region from environmental degradation.
But as the crusher entrepreneurs argued that the decision would cause them great loss, there was an agreement to allow the mills to operate till mid-July so that they could clear stocks already at their disposal. "I am surprised to learn that the cabinet took a decision to allow such illegal operations for one more year. This will wreck environmental havoc in the Chure region," said a government official on condition of anonymity.
Officials claim that those who were involved in the controversial decision must have been unduly influenced by unscrupulous business interests which had long been pressuring the government. A separate President´s Chure Conservation Program was launched in 2011 under the active initiative of President Dr Ram Baran Yadav amid worsening environmental conditions in the region.
Chief Secy ´displeased´
Chief Secretary Leela Mani Poudyal is learnt to have expressed strong displeasure over the decision allowing ´illegal´ crusher mills to operate for one more year.
Sources close to him said the decision was taken without his knowledge and it allowed such mills to operate just 200 meters from highways and river beds and 500 meter from academic and health institutions, places of cultural and archaeological importance and national forests.
Upon learning about the controversial decision, Chief Secretary Poudyal inquired with the secretaries concerned as to why such a proposal was made. "Chief Secretary is very much displeased over the controversial decision that may cause huge environment degradation. He is holding consultations as to how the decision taken for pure personal benefit can be annulled," said a source close to him.
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