KAMAL BAZAAR : Kamal Bazaar Municipality of Achham has expressed its commitment to formulate environment-friendly policy saying that bulldozers are used in a haphazard manner for the construction of roads.
The commitment was expressed during a water interaction on the destruction caused by unplanned construction of roads organised by Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists (NEFEJ).
Speaking at a discussion held at Kamal Bazaar as part of water projected funded by USAID, Kamal Bazaar Municipality Mayor Om Prakash Bista said the potential danger would be taken into consideration while building rural roads in the future. He expressed his commitment to start every road construction projects based on the conclusion of the feasibility study by a team technicians and experts.
He acknowledged opening road tracks in the past by using bulldozer haphazardly wherever the locals wanted due to lack of awareness about the need to adopt environment-friendly policy. He committed to formulate environment-friendly policy for any development works including physical infrastructure and road.
Mayor Bista thanked Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists for organizing the program that made everyone aware about environment. “Most of the roads have been dug. But we will adopt environment-friendly policy for building roads in the future,” he said. “In our village known as Shera in Achha district, around 10-15 houses and a school have been facing landslide threats during monsoon due to random use of bulldozer for road construction.”
A local of Shera in Kamal Bazaar Municipality-7, and member of Rural Municipality, Lokendra Nepali said the failure to prepare design estimate for building a road and to assess the possible damage in the future have led to the loss of many arable land.
After the local body election in 2017, Nepali said, four wards of Kamal bazaar witnessed damages due to landslides caused by haphazard use of bulldozers to build rural road from Kamal Bazaar to Shera without preliminary study and research by technicians. “People of Shera, which lies in Ward 7 Shera of Kamal Bazaar and is the second best arable land after Kalimati in Achham district, are at the receiving end because of the road,” said Nepali. “Around 200 ropanis of land has been destroyed by the landslide debris comprising soil and pebbles. The locals are having hard time to earn livelihood due to the disaster.”
Jagat Bahadur Bista, of Kamal Bazaar Municipality-8, said he lost nearly 25 ropanis of cultivable land during the construction of road connecting Shera and his house is also facing risk. He said the damage caused by the road has made him unhappier than the delight he felt when the road was built. He said so when the NEFEJ team went for on-site inspection of problems and news reporting before the water discussions. Nearly 15 households, like him, have been facing landslide threat.
Addressing the discussion, Kamal Bazaar Municipality-7 Chairman Govinda Bahadur Bhandari admitted that their failure to take into account the possible problems before constructing the road has caused damaged. “We should have adopted environment-friendly policy. It was our mistake on part to not do so due to lack of awareness,” he said.
Bhandari added the several landslides occurred at Dhanku-Shera road stretch due to haphazard use of heavy equipment for road construction.
Similarly, Naina Bahadur Bista said the arable land in his village were destroyed as destruction comes along with development. He said it wouldn’t be pragmatic to avoid infrastructure development because it triggers landslides but the damage from it should be minimized.
Treasurer of consumers’ committee for Motarkate-Balata rural road construction, Krishna Devi Rawat, also a local of Ward 9, said it would be easier to minimize the possible damage during road construction if the consumers’ committee becomes active.
Chairman of the network of visually-impaired and differently-abled, Khinte BK, said the failure to plant trees after digging roads in hilly area has caused landslides. “Though there is no alternative to using bulldozer, I believe it is possible to keep landslides in check if tree plantation is made mandatory in the area dug for road,” said BK.
At the discussion, Kamal Bazaar Municipality-5 Janma Prasad Upadhyay, said he has become a flood victim himself due to use of bulldozer. “My arable land was destroyed by the road at Kuika. Around six plots of my land were cut down for road when I was away from home and the plots were destroyed by landslides during monsoon,” he said.
Flood affected locals of Ward 7 and 8 complained that their arable lands were destroyed by landslides due to haphazard use of bulldozers for road construction.
Likewise, Pushpa Raj Adhikari, bulldozer driver and operator of Kamal Bazaar Municipality-7, denied using bulldozers in haphazard manner. “I have got the job to excavate road in all 10 wards of the municipality,” he said.
“We operate the dozer through consumers. I have been operating bulldozer since 2066 BS. In the earlier set-up when it was village development committee, the technicians would stay in the district and didn’t visit ward for monitoring, we used to prepare design and cut the road by ourselves. But after the election of new representatives, we dig the road wherever the engineers and sub-engineers tell us to,” he said. “Through there was negligence earlier, we haven’t dug road so as to destroy the forest after the election of local body representatives.”
At the program, General Secretary of Forest Consumers’ Federation, Gaumati Shahi, said she has noticed the excessive use of bulldozers in recent time, and underscored the need to consider sustainable development.
Kamal Bazar Municipality Engineer Madan Bhandari said the digging of road without research have been causing the biggest loss. “Both survey and estimate are viewed as the same here. The rural roads are causing more trouble than making life easier because of the culture of using bulldozer haphazardly, and indifference to the need to test soil of rural road, and adopt environment friendly policy.
He stressed on the need to do Environment Impact Assessment before commencing road construction project. But a majority of the place in Achham district have been suffering damage due to lack of basic study and observation.
Kamal Bazaar Municipality Deputy Mayor Bhumi Sharam Dhakal Bajgain said she built roads in 10 wards by mobilizing 10 sub-engineers when there was lack of newly elected representatives and staffers. “We didn’t have engineers then, so we had to take ahead the road building projects with the support of sub-engineers as there were no engineers. Because of that we couldn’t prepare estimation and action plan for the projects,” she said.
She added that the roads built then have not witnessed landslides as of now. She also pledged to build embankment and plant trees in the area that are prone to landslide.
A total of 36 participants including, chairmen of all wards from 1 to 9, consumers’ committee of road projects, drinking water consumers’ committee, community forest consumers’ committee, landslide victims were present at the discussion. At the program, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and people’s representatives expressed 6-point commitment for environment-friendly development projects.
The commitments are as follows:
- Built environment-friendly roads by formulating necessary policy for the same.
- Conduct feasibility study by technicians before commencing road construction project. Land will be cut for road only after the study by technicians.
- Plant trees and built embankments to control the landslides and damage after building the road.
- Mobilize bulldozer for building roads only in necessary places with the participation of people and elected representatives.
- The budget allocated for building roads will be used for feasibility study, technical tests and compensation to the affected people.
- Roads will be built so as to ensure direct benefit to the people.
