Crusher industries in Kathmandu Valley and its adjoining districts are found to have been operating against the environment and other rules.
The crusher operation criteria 2016 has banned such industries within 300 meters from the rivers and highways. However, there is rampant violation of the criteria set for running crusher industries. “Ten crusher plants in Sindhupalchok district, 26 in Dhading, 2 in Chitwan, 10 in Makwanpur, and 20 in Lele-Nallu area of Lalitpur districts are being operated by breaching the criteria,” states Auditor General Office Report 2017.
On top of that, most crusher plans are indifferent to law of license renewal. The government has incurred a loss of hundreds of thousands of rupees in revenue due to the failure to strictly implement the legal provision of license renewal. The crusher plants have remained defiant despite the directive by Department of Cottage and Small Industries to renew their license.
According to the government criteria, crusher industries should mandatorily abide by all the points mentioned in preliminary environment report, keep shade for crusher machine, plant trees in buffer zone and such plants should be at least 2km away from big human settlements. However, the Office of Attorney General said the industries were founding violating the rules during its monitoring. Besides, the government bodies haven’t been able to monitor the cursher industries effectively.
