The District Administration Office, Mahottari (DAO) has stopped illegal exploitation of the Khutti River within Chure Protected Area in Lahan Municipality-15.

Chief District Officer (CDO) Basudev Dahal stopped the illegal exploitation of Khutti River after being transferred to the district. The decision to halt the illegal excavation has caused panic among officials of Lahan Municipality, District Coordination Committee (DCC), and Division Forest Office.

The China Railway No-2 Engineering Group was illegally exploiting the protected forest areas of Chure in collaboration with the DCC and the Division Forest Office under the protection of the municipality.

According to sources, the CDO uncovered evidence of illegal mining operations and has taken a stand against the exploitation, aiming to dismantle the network facilitating such activities.

To the north of the Khutti River is the Chure Range and to the east is the Jhwai Kholsi Churia Danda Community Forest. The China Railway No-2 Engineering Group has been digging the river with an excavator, bypassing Chure and community forests.

This company, which is involved in the construction of a four-lane highway from Kamala in Siraha to Kanchanpur in Saptari under the East-West Highway.

Although the agreement with the company does not permit excavation with excavators, it has been found that such equipment was being used without Environmental Impact Assessment in the protected and forested areas along the river.

Officials and locals of Jhwai Kholsi Churia Danda Community Forest have been opposing illegal mining activities since the beginning. However, the locals say that attempts to speak out against these activities have been reciprocated with threats from the police.

Lagan Lal Chaudhary, chairman of Jhwai Kholsi Churia Danda Community Forest, says, “Excavation has ceased following media coverage, but the duration of this cessation remains uncertain.”

When the local level awards contracts for river excavation, the municipality verifies the quantity excavated every 15 days and sends it to the DCC by placing a signboard with the name of the contracting firm and businessmen, the contract number, and the quantity so that everyone can see it.

“But there is no signboard anywhere,” says Chaudhary.

The local level does not follow the rules because they exploit the rivers themselves. Under the guise of the municipality, the China Railway Company has been engaged in uncontrolled mining in the Chure Protected Area. They suppress the voices of the locals either by luring them or by threatening them.

No river material can be extracted from any river without conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment. Excavating in the rivers of Chure and protected areas necessitates an environmental impact assessment through the provincial forest ministry with the consent of the division forest office. However, when exploiting the resources through illegal setting, there is no requirement to adhere to standards, reports, or legal provisions.

Chaudhury, the chairman of the community forest, warns that unlimited exploitation in the name of development will result in destruction.