Subodh Gautam and Pitambar Sigdel

Kathmandu - The first President, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, who played a key role in making the conservation of the Chure hills effective, has called the efforts to bring the 'President Chure Terai-Madhes Conservation Development Committee' under the Ministry of Forest and Environment a 'conspiracy to destroy Chure'.

He spoke to Nature Khabar at his residence in Bagdol on Monday afternoon about the process taken by the Ministry of Forest and Environment to dissolve the President Chure Committee and condemned the government's move.

'As far as I understand, there is an attempt to bring the committee under the ministry. This is an illegal and wrong thing to do. The government should not do anything that is harmful to the nation,' he said. 'If this happens, Chure will not exist. The Forest Minister and employees will start smuggling Chure wood, stone, gravel, sand and soil together. And, within 25 years, Chure will be destroyed.' Former President Yadav played a key role in the conservation of the country's most sensitive and important youngest hill. The Chure region, spread across 37 districts, occupies 12.78 percent of the total land area. 50 percent of the country's population living in the Terai-Madhes is dependent on the Chure.



Dr. Yadav commented that those who do not understand the background, how and why the Chure Committee was established and do not want to understand it have taken such a step. 'The committee was established by assimilating the main idea of ​​​​forming a body that can independently and autonomously save the Chure after discussing with many scholars and experts. This idea is not understood by the present people,' he said, 'This is not a committee established on the basis of a whim. It was formed after a lot of in-depth study. A lot of effort has been put into its establishment.'

Dr. Yadav has suggested that the government review the issue in the parliament to make this committee more effective. He suggested that the government pay special attention to its autonomy and independence. 'The committee should be made more autonomous and independent,' he said, 'The country has a republic. There is a parliament. A law on Chure conservation should be made after discussion in Parliament.’

Dr. Yadav has repeatedly suggested to the government, ‘It should not be brought under the control of departments and ministries. It should be strengthened further. It should be thought about how it can work independently and autonomously by having skilled manpower in it.’ He expressed dissatisfaction by stating that when the committee was first formed, thematic and skilled people were appointed and that it did a good job initially, but then each party appointed people who did not have subject matter knowledge in the name of political appointments to the board.

‘If the effectiveness of the committee is to be reviewed, it should be done in Parliament. A law should be made to bring in more autonomous, independent and capable people,' said Dr. Yadav, 'This work should be done after discussing it with the MPs.'



He mentioned that he had heard that a law was being made to export stone, gravel, sand and soil from Chure, and said, 'The past and present governments have repeatedly made illegitimate and wrong attempts to export stone, gravel and sand. Even after all this, they did not understand the importance of Chure.'

As former President Dr. Yadav said, in every budget speech, the government has been making some arrangement to extract and export Chure resources in a roundabout way. Both former Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat and current Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel have been seen as lenient towards Chure in the past

Former President Dr. Yadav expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the forest administration and the employees working there. ‘The employees of the forest ministry have already eaten the forest. Dr. Yadav said, ‘If the committee also submits to the ministry, Chure will also be over in 25-30 years.’

He said that Chure has also been destroyed due to unscientific development work done in different periods. Dr. Yadav said that Chure is being destroyed due to the East-West Highway, railway line, Postal Highway, Madan Bhandari Highway.

‘When the Central Highway and East-West Highway were being operated, the Madan Bhandari Highway was built through the middle of Chure. Now, Chure is being destroyed due to the cities expanding on this highway,’ he said. Dr. Yadav argued that Chure was destroyed due to the construction of many roads and highways unnecessarily.

‘That is why in recent years, the crusher industries have started destroying the resources by extracting them,’ he said. Dr. Yadav said that there is a ‘nexus’ between the police administration, employees and mafias who are number 2 in the Chure resource. ‘The resources of Chure are still being smuggled secretly. 60 percent of the crushers are legal and 40 percent are illegal in the Chure area. The resources around are extracted throughout the day. After nightfall, they reach the Chure hills and extract them,’ said Dr. Yadav. The Ministry of Forest and Environment is planning to bring the committee under its control. Opposition and criticism have started everywhere. Forest Minister Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri has formed a technical committee under the coordination of Administration Division Chief Bhupal Baral to amend the committee formation order.

The committee has prepared an amendment proposal with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Forest and Environment and the National Planning Commission as its members, with the Forest Minister as its chairman. Similarly, according to the proposed arrangement, the secretaries of the forest ministries of each province will be members, as well as four expert members, including at least two women members nominated by the ministry, the proposal prepared by the ministry states.

Work worth about 17 billion rupees has been done so far through the Chure Committee. The government had appointed former Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal as the first chairman of the committee. During his tenure, the committee had prepared and implemented a 20-year master plan for Chure conservation.

After the then Minister Acharya was removed from the Ministry of Forests, CPN-Maoist leader Agni Sapkota became the Minister of Forests. Despite disagreements between Minister Sapkota and Chairman Khanal, Khanal resigned. After that, all parties started recruiting their cadres to the committee.

Currently, the committee has 124 staff positions. But not all the posts have been filled. The committee, which has its central office in Khumaltar, has five sectoral offices outside the valley. The committee has been implementing its programs through all three offices.

Experts say that a lot of work is being done in the field of Chure conservation with a small amount of money. The annual report of the committee shows that the deserted Chure is becoming greener and there has been improvement in the river system from water source conservation to water conservation. The destruction of physical infrastructure has stopped and incidents of social crime have also decreased in the Terai-Madhes.