Residents blamed local government authorities, including District Development Committee, for granting permits to crusher factories to extract stones, gravels and sand from the river.
The DDC has turned a blind eye to the illegal extractions in the Kaligandaki River, threatening the environment and the existence of the river itself, argued a participant during an interaction organized by Parbat Chamber of Commerce.
“The rampant mining of aggregates has marred the beauty of the Kaligandaki River,” Kishor Sapkota, a conservation activist, said. “The responsible government authorities look the other way as our natural environment is being destroyed.”
Chair of the Parbat chapter of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), Bishwaraj Pandey, also came down heavily against the ongoing Illegal and rampant excavations in the river.
“Who provided the crusher operators with the right to extract natural resources from the Kaligandaki River during nights?” he questioned.
Although Chief District Officer (CDO) Jhamkanath Dhakal said, “Crusher operators are involved in illegal activities. Although they have been permitted to extract aggregates 200 meter from river banks, they have been flouting the agreement,” CDO Dhakal said.
Likewise, District Police Office Chief Ganga Panta warned of action against crusher plants involved in illegal extraction from the river.
“The police under my leadership will stand firm against those who are involved in illegal mining activities,” he said.
However, Local Development Officer (LDO) Yuwaraj Poudel refuted claims that the DDC was encouraging crusher plants in the district.
The DDC has given crusher plants a written permission to use earth-moving equipment for extracting aggregates from the Kaligandaki River saying that extractions could not be done manually.
Encouraged by the permission, the crusher plants have been extracting stones, sands and gravel during nighttime, fearing objections from locals and stakeholders during the daytime.
The illegal and rampant mining activities since the last one month have created 10-meter deep holes at several places in the riverbed, endangering the nearby Raja Bagar settlement.
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