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Nefej draws govt’s attention towards haphazard use of dozers in infrastructural development

Nefej draws govt’s attention towards haphazard use of dozers in infrastructural development

The Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (Nefej) has drawn the attention of the government towards the haphazard use of dozers in the name of infrastructural development in the villages without paying attention to environmental and other issues.

As a result, the land has loosened and become weak not only in the rainy season but also in the dry season.

Issuing a statement on Monday, the Nefej said that not only the local government, but also the local political parties and other stakeholders need to be serious to stop the reckless use of dozers in the name of development, stressing that the general public also needs to raise their voice on such issues.

The Nefej said that it would like to draw the attention of the government to stop such destructive activities being carried out in the name of development just to spend the allocated budget and to secure votes.  Mainly, the federal government needs to pay attention to such issues.

“There was a water crisis in many districts this time due to floods and landslides. The destruction of traditional water sources and drawing water from rivers and streams through pumps are the key reasons. The crisis was a result of floods and landslides sweeping away the pumps and wells and lacking of traditional water sources,” reads the statement, underscoring that the concerned authorities need to pay special attention to the protection of traditional water sources in the villages while carrying out reconstruction.

The issue of illegal extraction of riverbed materials and operation of crusher industries all over the country has been in discussion for a long time. But the concerned authorities have not been giving attention.  The earth is being weakened by the operation of crusher industries on one hand and on the other hand the haphazard dumping of dust and granules from mines and crushes have been causing a huge damage to the environment.

The crushers being operated illegally and haphazardly could not be brought under the law owing to the protection from the political and administrative levels. The issue was discussed for some time soon after the floods, but now the relevant authorities have forgotten this issue and the crushers have started operating again without paying attention to the environment. The concerned authorities need to pay serious attention to the matter, the statement further reads.

“The reconstruction work is progressing gradually. It is high time that the local governments need to formulate policy in such a way so that the damage that may occur in the future before the common people build their houses and other structures could be minimized. People should not be allowed to build houses in steep places and to leave a certain space while building houses on the river banks among others.”

At least 246 people died, 178 were injured and 18 are still missing in the floods and landslides that occurred on September 26, 27 and 28 across the country.

 

 

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