It is the DDC's responsibility to monitor excavation-related activities in the rivers in the district. However, DDC Parvat does not appear to be doing its duty.
In a letter to crusher plants last month, the DDC allowed the use of earth-moving equipment for extracting aggregates from the Kaligandaki River saying that extractions cannot be done manually.
Crusher plants have been extracting stones, sands and gravel during the night, fearing objections from locals and stakeholders during daytime.
Earlier, a group of journalists, after repeated complaints by locals at the District Administration Office had gone unheard, reached the extraction site at midnight only to see extractions going on in full swing. Following complaints by journalists, police had impounded an excavator and three tipper trucks of the Kaligandaki Crusher Factory and arrested the vehicles' drivers from the river.
After police seized the excavators and tippers, the DDC had recommended strong action against the crusher factories. A week has already elapsed, but no action has been taken against them.
Illegal and rampant excavation activities that have continued during nights since last month have created a 10- meter deep hole in the riverbed. This has endangered nearby Raja Bagar settlement.
Meanwhile, the crusher factories in the district protesting the "repeated seizure of their vehicles and equipment" have announced to halt the sale and distribution of construction materials that come from rivers.
"Despite the DDC's approval for excavation, the police and the administration have created obstruction. To protest the obstruction, we've stopped the sale and distribution of river-based aggregates for unlimited period," Biplav Hamal, the chairman of Crusher Plant Operators Union, said.
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