Gandaki Forest Minister says: "It is better to dig and use hills and mines, there are many benefits!"

Pokhara: Protests are taking place everywhere after the government introduced a budget policy to reduce the trade deficit by exporting stones, pebbles, and sand to India. Opposition activists and opposition groups have been pushing for the government to withdraw its policy.

Gandaki Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment Vikas Lamsal, on the other hand, said that the policy of the federal government was not for development but for development and protection. Minister Lamsal claims that the country itself can be transformed and the country can be transformed if the hills can be cleared and excavated.

Minister Lamsal said that the state government has also conducted a study in 11 districts of Gandaki from Nawalpur in the Chure region to Mustang, the northern border point of China.

"If the environmental impact assessment is done and the hills are cleared and the mines are excavated and sold, the country can be transformed, not the development of nature," said Minister Lamsal. To not allow the policy brought by the government to be implemented is to allow nature to be exploited, to cause destruction. That is to say, let them run illegal businesses. '

Minister Lamsal said that the government's policy would not harm nature and human life but would benefit it. According to Minister Lamsal, excavation work is being carried out in the river and all of them are operating illegally. Minister Lamsal said that there was no alternative to digging mines without affecting the environment if the river was to be diverted and the country was to earn huge revenue.

According to him, 59 crushers are operating illegally in 11 districts of Gandaki. The river is getting deeper and the settlement is at risk due to the crushers operating without meeting the standards near the river, school, highway, and forest.

"Even the revenue from the state is being lost as the river is being diverted now. To make it systematic, the Gandaki state government had formulated and implemented criteria, 'said Minister Lamsal.' However, after the federal government again gave authority to the local level, there was a dispute over the excavation and sale of crushers and riverine materials.

Gandaki was studied by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest, and Environment in 2019. According to Minister Lamsal, a team of professors and environmentalists from Tribhuvan University has conducted a study on the excavation of mineral resources at 60 places in Gandaki.

Minister Lamsal said that a large income can be earned by digging hills like Syangja's Bear Hill, Dimuwa Mountain, and Mahala. According to Minister Lamsal, the study has shown that the Sylhet Stone in Tarakhola of Baglung, Dhavadi of Vanalpur, and Chure area of ​​Nawarpur can be mined without any impact on the environment and the state can get huge income from its sale.

"The country can reap huge benefits if it assesses the environmental impact and provides access to roads and electricity to such hills and mines," he said. "Even now, there is a lack of stone, gravel, and sand in development." It is not being supplied as per the demand. We have a systematic excavation plan for that. '

Gandaki Forest Minister Lamsal has said that the government's plan will also protect Chure. "It also protects forests and rivers and helps in the development of managed settlements," he added.

According to Minister Lamsal, some tractors are being used to go directly to the river, excavators are being used and excavations are being carried out.

Minister Lamsal said that not a single crusher has been able to operate legally as per the government's norms and the only solution to the problem is to clear the hills and mine through environmental studies.

"If the state invests in itself or the private sector is given the responsibility of excavation without compromising the environment, it will be of great benefit," said Minister Amsal. Withdrawal is necessary. ' Minister Lamsal claimed that the government's budget policy is not for destruction but for protection.