Kathmandu. The process has been started to cut down trees in the reservoir area of the 140 MW Tanahun Hydropower Project.

For this, the project has held the first phase of consultation meeting with the representatives of 25 community forest users’ groups located within the reservoir area. The meeting was held in coordination with the Division Forest Office, Tanahun.

In the meeting, the representatives of the community forest users’ groups were informed about the methods and procedures to be adopted for counting, pruning and cutting trees. Discussions were also held on the role of community forest users’ groups, participation and necessary coordination in this work.

Project chief Shyamji Bhandari said that consultations have been started with the community forest users groups to proceed with the work of cutting trees in a systematic manner. He said that the participation and coordination of the concerned forest groups has been given importance while moving forward the process related to counting, pruning and cutting trees.

According to Bhandari, the management of forest area in the reservoir area is related to the construction process of the project and works should be carried out as per the prevailing legal provisions and the prescribed procedure.

The meeting discussed how the users’ groups would participate in the tree census, felling and completing the necessary procedures. Project Chief Bhandari said that it was agreed to take the necessary process to implement the issues discussed in the meeting.