Trishuli Ground Zero: Illegal stones everywhere, protest after contract given by municipality

POKHARA: Excavation has now been halted following news that the municipality had constructed a road by obstructing a trident for the extraction of stone, gravel, and sand contracted by the municipality.

Gorkha’s Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality has contracted the Trishuli ghat to increase internal revenue.

However, Chair Ramesh Babu Thapa Magar ordered the excavation to be halted on Sunday after the contractor violated the contract.

After the excavation was halted, a team of police and municipal technicians conducted an on-site investigation on Sunday.

The Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality reported that during the investigation, some businessmen were discovered to have piled stones and sand. 900 cubic meters of stones and 600 cubic meters of sand were discovered hidden in Ward No. 4 Theuwatar.

The stones were discovered to have been collected with the financial assistance of local Mohan Rana. He also owns and operates the resort. Sunil Gurung stacked sand. Rana stated that the tractor was paid 3,000 when the stone was delivered. “I paid the amount of each tip at a rate of 3,000,” he explained.

Locals claim that they have piled stones for the resort’s construction. Gurung, a sand collector, is also the owner of Eco Village Company. The employees admitted to taking out the sand after Mohan Rana’s group began picking up the stones.

The municipality conducted the monitoring after receiving information about river exploitation through revenue evasion.

The materials that had been piled up were handed over on Sunday, in the presence of locals. The municipality’s engineer, Meghnath Yadav, stated that the process of bringing the bonded materials under the jurisdiction of the municipality has already begun.

According to sources, they became involved in the municipality’s contract after they were unable to extract the illegal stones and sand.

‘It is not good to dam the river. But even when the river was not dammed, they had to deal with a lot of problems,” said a local. ‘We have always seen stones and gravel sold illegally here. They protested that they couldn’t earn money after going to contract.’ Rafting is popular in that area. Tourist hotels and restaurants are also springing up right now.

-Prakash Dhakal