KATHMANDU, Sept 20: The Natural Resources and Means Committee (NRMC) of the legislature-parliament has directed the government not to allow hotels and resorts to operate inside the Chitwan National Park (CNP) -- the UNESCO world heritage site -- until it completes its study. [break]
After a month-long study, parliament´s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on September 12 had decided to allow resorts inside the Chitwan National Park to operate till July 15, 2012. However, the NRMC reversed the PAC´s decision stating that the issue fell under its jurisdiction.
There are seven resorts inside the national park, which have been running since several years. Lawmakers have strongly objected to the idea of permitting any resort, hotel or lodge to operate inside the heritage site. They have urged the government to immediately relocate the resorts outside the park. The resorts have remained closed since their lease contract expired on July 15, 2009.
After conducting a study on the issue, the Forest and Soil Conservation subcommittee under the NRMC has come up with a conclusion that the operation of resorts inside the park has had a negative impact on its wildlife habitat and biodiversity. It also claimed that the hotel operation was encouraging poaching in the park.
The NRMC has urged the government not to renew the contract of the hotels as they have evaded millions of rupees in royalties. Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, Dipak Bohara, informed the committee that the resorts have not paid Rs 14.6 million to the government. “Extending their lease contract will be a mockery of the rule of law,” an interim report prepared by a subcommittee under the committee said. It claimed that the political parties, organizations and locals in Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts were in favor of relocating the hotels outside the park.
Terming PAC´s decision contradictory to its own analysis, Ramesh Rijal, coordinator of the subcommittee, said NRMC would take the right and bold decision. Committee members Kul Prasad Nepal, Ram Kumar Sharma, Ranadhwaj Kandangwa, Ratna Gurung, Sanchpal Maden, Chandradev Joshi, Yashoda Adhikari and Laxman Ghimire also lambasted the government for allowing the resorts to operate without calling tender bids for years.
Ministry in confusion
Secretary of the ministry of forest and soil conservation, Yuvraj Bhusal, urged the committee to take an immediate decision saying the ministry was in confusion over two contradictory directives issued by the two different parliamentary committees. “We have not been able to take any decision. We need an immediate solution," he said.
Coordinator of the subcommittee under the NRMC Ramesh Rijal, however, said that as the issue clearly fell under NRMC´s jurisdiction, the government would act as per its directives. "I am confident that the ministry will not defy our directive," Rijal said.
thira@myrepublica.com
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