Illegal extraction of riverbed materials is rampant in the Chure foothills in Kailali district. Local people allege that the extraction of sand, pebbles and stones from the Chure foothills continues unchecked as contractors work hand in glove with municipal officials, elected representatives and community forest users’ committee of the area.

Extraction of sand, pebbles and stone has been reported in the Machhali stream area in ward 12 of Godawari Municipality and Ratopani area in ward 11. Machhali and Ratopani lie in the foothills of Chure and existing laws ban the extraction and collection of the riverbed materials along the Chure-Bhawar border.

The Chure range, also known as the Siwalik Hills, stretches from the Indus River in Pakistan in the west to the Brahmaputra River in India in the east, spanning across multiple countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, and India.

The Chure range in Nepal features a string of low hills extending from Mechi in the east to Mahakali in the west and lies to the south of the Mahabharat hills. The range is around 20-30 km wide and 1,000 km long. Over the years, water sources originating in the foothills of Chure have been drying up, leading to the depletion of the first layer of underground water in Bhawar (the area between Chure and the Tarai) and the Tarai, experts say.

During a recent visit to the Machhali stream area, the Post saw dozens of tractors collect and transport sand and stones, even near the dam of the Mahakali Irrigation System. Despite restrictions, extractions are going on in broad daylight.

Kamal Singh Rana, a driver of a tractor with registration number 5237, was found transporting riverbed materials in the Machhali stream area. He asserted that he as well as others collect and transport sand and stones after paying taxes to the municipality and community forest. “I am just a driver. I pay taxes for these materials. I know nothing about others,” said Rana.

No different is the situation in the Ratopani area of the municipality. Many tractors, including that of Dal Bahadur Khati, were found collecting and ferrying riverbed materials. “We can’t find sands and stones downstream anymore, so we have to reach up to the foothills,” he said.

Khati said each tractor has to pay Rs1,200 to the municipality and Rs150 to the community forest per trip, adding that the sands and stones are transported to various places in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts.

Soni Construction Company has been collecting revenue in the name of Godawari Municipality for the extraction of sands and stones in the Machhali stream and Ratopani areas. The company collects Rs300 per tractor in the Machhali stream area and Rs1,200 per tractor in the Ratopani area for allowing the collection and transport of the riverbed materials, according to tractor drivers, who also showed receipts of the payments to Soni construction.

Interestingly, the local community forests, which are responsible for preserving natural resources, have also been imposing fees on the illegal extraction and supply of riverbed materials. Gwasi Samaiji Forest Users’ Group in the Machhali stream area charges Rs150 per tractor-load while Ratopani Forest Users’ Group in the Ratopani area collects an equal amount.

Godawari Municipality officials claim they have not signed agreements with any company to allow extractions in the Machhali stream and Ratopani areas.

“The municipality has issued mining permits only in the Godawari, Khairala and Khutiya rivers. We have no knowledge of such illegal mining activities in the Machhali and Ratopani areas,” said Sharada Devi Rokaya, deputy mayor of Godawari Municipality.

Rokaya, who is also the coordinator of the monitoring committee, however, admitted that the municipality has failed to effectively monitor the extraction and transport of the riverbed materials.

Although the municipality and the people’s representatives say they are unaware of illegal extractions, local people claim that dozens of tractors extract riverbed materials in the Machhali stream and Ratopani areas every day.

“The tractors are mining and supplying riverbed materials uninterrupted. It is obvious that powerful individuals are involved. How can this happen without collusion between forest users’ groups, contractors and municipal officials including ward representatives?” said Dev Bahadur Badaila of ward 12 of Godawari. He warned that the Chure region would soon be destroyed if such illegal extractions continued.

Godawari Municipality had signed a Rs22.8 million agreement with Soni Construction Company on October 28, allowing the company to extract riverbed materials in the Godawari stream for the fiscal year 2024-25. But the company has extended its mining activities to the Machhali stream and the Ratopani areas, in a blatant breach of the agreement.

Yogesh Bhatta, a representative of Soni Construction, obliquely admitted to extracting riverbed materials in the Machhali stream and Ratopani areas. “We have stopped collecting sands and stones in the areas now,” he said.

The Chure range, which comprises the inner Tarai, Chure Hills and Bhawar plains as a unit of landscape, has seen years of deforestation, overgrazing, logging and excessive mining of construction materials like boulders and pebbles. Such human activities have only exacerbated the impacts of water-induced disasters for communities living downstream.

Chure-Tarai Madhes Conservation Development Board was formed to preserve the Chure range. It formulated the 20-year Chure-Tarai Madhes Conservation and Management Master Plan in 2017 but its implementation has been weak.