In his meeting with Chief of the Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi on Monday, the committee´s chairman Mahesh Bahadur Basnet stressed the urgency of the proposed act for integrated development of the Bagmati river basin in a more effective way. [break]
"Contrary to its name, the high-powered committee is powerless in absence of a strong act," said Basnet. "As a result, we have not been able to save the Bagmati river basin from being encroached upon by government agencies."
According to Basnet, Regmi responded positively to his requests. "Now, we will lobby with the chiefs of all major political parties for promulgating the proposed act," he said. "We aim to have this act promulgated through ordinance by mid-April."
The draft of the proposed act was sent to the now-dissolved legislative parliament for approval in 2066 BS. But before the draft got through the bills committee, the parliament was dissolved.
As of now, the committee has been using Land Acquisition Act-2034 BS and Local Administration Act-2028 BS for its activities pertaining to development and protection of the Bagmati river basin.
"These two acts are simply not enough," said Basnet. "For instance, if a government agency encroaches the river, we can only request it not to do so."
According to Basnet, the proposed act allows the committee to recommend departmental actions against any government body or authority involved in encroachment of the river. "Once the act comes into effect, all government agencies must obtain our permission before carrying out any activities within a certain area of the river," said Basnet.
Basnet said that conservation of the Bagmati river basin has faced threats from government agencies themselves. "For instance, the Department of Road (DoR) has built roads by encroaching upon areas of several rivers in the Kathmandu Valley," he said. "We cannot do anything against it."
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