Following pressure and criticism from all quarters, the District Administration Office (DAO) had issued an instruction on Wednesday to immediately halt excavation activates along the river. But illegal quarrying of sands and stones reportedly occurred the very next day.
Locals residing along the river reported that crusher mills illegally extracted aggregates from Daraudi River and exported them on Thursday night. “The crusher operators have started extracting stones during the night after the ban was enforced,” said a local.
Earlier, DAO and the District Development Committee (DDC) had asked the crusher operators not to use of any equipment while extracting materials from the river and given a week´s ultimatum to evacuate the river area.
After the locals complained that the crusher operators have been extracting and exporting aggregates illegally during night, a team of DAO, District Police Office, DDC and businessmen had inspected the river bank on Friday.
“During inspection, we did not find any illegal activity. But locals had reported us that crusher operators extracted aggregates on Thursday night,” said Krishna Karki, Chief District Officer.
For several years, DDC had been allowing some crusher mills to extract stones and sands from the river in compliance with environment regulations. But the mills have been extracting sand and stones rampantly, say locals.
The crusher operators had been can dig up to 50 centimeter for extracting aggregates. But the contractors have reportedly been digging more than 1.5 meter.
“We will take legal action if any crusher plant is found carrying out the illegal activities,” assured CDO Karki.
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