By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Sept. 23: Minister for Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation Barsha Man Pun has said the government will not halt development works in the name of protecting environment.
The government is serious to minimise environmental losses, the government will not stop the development works, Minister Pun said.
Speaking at a report launching programme on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of Modi Khola Hydro Project organised by Nepal Forum for Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) on Sunday, Minister Pun said that the government failed to get genuine EIA reports on many projects due to lack of sufficient environment experts.
The civil society and public must be active to draw the attention of the government about the wrong doing.
Talking about the research report, Batu Krishna Upreti, researcher, said during the construction of hydro projects in Modi River, aquatic animals including fishes had died and water resources had dried up and houses of local residents were damaged.
He added that though there was no provision that every hydro-project should release at least 10 per cent water in river but in the case Modi no water was released during the dry season. This has directly affected aquatic life.
A total of eight hydro projects will be constructed in the Modi River with a target to produce 237.3 megawatt electricity from these projects.
Upreti said local residents and even engineers were unaware about the EIA report and projects appeared to have been unsupportive in informing about the EIA report.