Kaski. Kaski: Extraction of minerals and river products has been banned for three months in Kaski district.

A meeting of the District River and Mineral Products Monitoring Committee held on Thursday decided to halt the extraction of minerals from mid-July to mid-September, said Chief of the District Coordination Committee, Leeladhar Poudel.

Poudel, who is also the coordinator of the monitoring committee, said the decision was taken as per the excavation, sale and management standard of stones, pebbles and sand, 2077 BS.

“The meeting has directed the concerned bodies of the state, local levels and the government of Nepal to strictly implement the decision. The excavation and collection of river-based and mineral products would be carried out only in accordance with the approved standards and the environmental impact assessment would be carried out as per the prevailing laws, and patrolling would be mobilized to completely control illegal excavation, illegal collection and unauthorized transportation,” Poudel said.

The meeting also decided to manage excavation of rivers, forest areas, fertile land, disaster risk zones and settlements without causing environmental destruction.

Likewise, it has been decided to ban the issuance of invoices without invoices to ensure that the revenue generated from excavation is not lost and to ensure that the invoices are issued at the real transaction value.

The meeting also urged the local governments to prepare an action plan in the area specified by the environmental study report and prepare an action plan only after obtaining approval from the village and municipalities, and to monitor the areas where excavation and collection of river based minerals would not take place in excess of the approved result, and to keep a record of the excavation and collection, said District Coordination Officer Nawaraj Baral.

The meeting has also decided to stop digging, extracting and transporting stones, sand and other types of soil from the catchment area of Fewa Lake and to take action against anyone involved in such activities.

Similarly, the local level has to collect the ghats before the expiry of the deadline and if they fail to collect them within the stipulated time, the local government should seize them, auction them as per the prevailing law and deposit income in the local reserve fund.

Likewise, the local levels have been directed to send the stock of the ghats to the District Monitoring Committee mandatorily after proving the stock within the stipulated time, said Coordination Officer Baral.