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No more sand for India
- Parliamentary committee bans export
KATHMANDU, JAN 04 - The Natural Resources and Means Committee of the Legislature Parliament on Monday directed the government to prohibit the export of stones and sand to India until a further decision is taken.
The committee on Monday morning directed seven ministries--the ministries of Forest and Soil Conservation, Industry, Local Development, Commerce and Supplies, Finance, Home, and Environment--to immediately stop the export of these natural resources to India. The committee has asked its Forest Sub-Committee to study the environmental impact caused by the “uncontrolled” supply of the resources and to suggest measures to be taken in the future.
“The subcommittee will make a field study on the export of stones and sand to India from the Tarai and the Chure range and will submit its report to the full committee as soon as possible,” said Santa Chaudhary, chairman of the committee. Prior to taking this decision, the committee discussed the issue with Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Deepak Bohara, Forest and Soil Conservation Secretary Yuvraj Bhusal, Local Development Secretary Shyam Prasad Mainali, Industry Secretary Pratap Kumar Pathak, and Joint Secretary at the Environment Ministry Meena Khanal. The ministers for Local Development, Industry, and Environment were absent at the meeting.
Lawmakers said that the situation of the Chure range and the Tarai has become vulnerable due to the rising trend of stones and sand extraction. They have demanded that the government immediately introduce a special master plan to protect the Chure region. Committee members have also accused political leaders and senior bureaucrats of engaging in malpractice, as the government has been “neglecting to control the huge amounts of export of these resources”.
According to the Ministry of Soil and Forest Conservation, at least 80,000 tonnes of stones and sand is transported to India from the Tarai districts every day. The major districts include Jhapa, Morang, Bara, Udayapur, Bardia, Parsa, Sarlahi, and Chitwan. The government had collected Rs. 861 million in revenue from the exports in the last fiscal year, while this year, till Mangsir alone, the revenue had amounted to Rs. 435 million, said Mainali. According to him, 95,000 people are directly employed by the industries.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry has registered its objection on the decision. “Rs. 40 billion has been invested in 130 crusher industries that are currently operating in the country and they export products worth Rs. 5 billion to India, while paying taxes worth Rs. 2.5 billion to the government,” reads the statement issued by the industry body on Monday. It has asked the government to conduct a serious study prior to prohibiting the export by industries that have been established as per the law and are following environmental standards defined by the government.
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