NAWALPUR, Dec 3: A team from the Federal Parliament has begun consultations with the stakeholders in the district after the locals of Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta Purba) made calls for the revocation of the buffer zone.

The parliamentary team under the leadership of Dil Kumari Rawal, the chairperson of the National Concern and Coordination Committee under the National Assembly, has stated that it will suggest to the government to amend the National Parks Act.

Committee Chair Rawal said the government would be suggested to amend the Act as the government only amended the Regulations without revising the Act. She added that the committee's recommendation to the government would be supported by the locals' opinion as well.

"We have emphasized on making the old Acts timely, in consonance with the new governance system and federalism. If the government does not bring the bill for amending the Act, the committee shall move ahead works on amending the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 2029 through a private bill.     

Stating that the laws enforced in the country should be based on research, the Upper House lawmaker shared that the 348 Acts promulgated by the Federal Parliament were currently under implementation in the country. 

The committee held discussions with and collected the views and suggestions from the people's representatives, park representatives, the buffer zone management committee, political parties, tourism entrepreneurs, conservationists and representatives of community forest committee, organizing a program at Amaltari, Kawasoti-15 in Nawalpur.

Most of the participants of the discussion shared that the construction of physical infrastructures and development works have been impeded in Nawalpur due to the Act and the Buffer Zone Management Regulations, 2052, and a big problem has arisen in the livelihoods of the locals here.

Locals said the people living in the settlements near the buffer zone were facing distress and many difficulties due to the discriminatory laws, including the National Parks Act and Regulations.

Hari Prasad Neupane of Devchuli Municipality said the people have raised voice demanding scrapping the buffer zone as they have been inconvenienced by the same park and the buffer zone which were being conserved with their support. 

"People's aversion towards the buffer zone has grown as the ground level of river bed and the banks of streams and rivulets flowing through the buffer zone have become elevated and the human settlements are at a lower elevation and suffer from flooding, since the people are not allowed to extract sand, stones and other river based materials," he said. 

Deputy mayor of Gaindakot Municipality, Shanti Koirala urged the authorities to remove Gaindakot from the buffer zone as the buffer zone has troubled the people and created obstructions in the construction of physical infrastructures in the area.

Similarly, chairman of Binayi Tribeni Rural Municipality, Ghanashyam Giri, and conservationist and central president of Homestay Federation Nepal, Prem Shankar Mardaniya suggested for judicious sharing of the revenues generated from the park and for linking conservation with the people's livelihoods. 

The participants drew the attention of the committee towards various problems they were facing, such as difficulty in carrying out their traditional occupations, not being allowed to chop even a dead tree growing on their own land, and obstruction in the construction of infrastructures like roads and other structures, among others.

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