Debris from Fast Track construction affects settlements

BY RAM MANI DAHAL, Hetauda, Jan. 21: Human settlements of Bakaiya Rural Municipality, Makwanpur district, are likely to be at risk during the rainy season because of the loose mud and rocks generated during the construction of the Kathmandu-Terai/Madhes Fast Track, one of the national pride projects of the government. 

The failure of the construction company to properly manage the rocks and mud released during the construction has put the settlements along the banks of local rivers in the municipality at risk, locals said. They said that they could be displaced from the area because of the poor management of the debris generated from the project.

The local level representatives and the locals have drawn the attention of the construction company, saying that the settlements might submerge and locals might be displaced due to rise in the water level of the rivers. They said that lately, the debris piled up from the construction of a tunnel at Kolkhop of Bakaiya Rural Municipality-12 of Makwanpur had fallen into the local rivers due to improper management, which could lead to a rise in the water level in the rivers. 

The settlements of wards 4, 5, 6 and 7 can be affected by the rise.  

Rural Municipality chairman Dharmaraj Lamichhane said that a litany of complaints from locals about the risk of being displaced had been registered. He added that the construction company should shoulder the responsibility of managing the debris.  

On the other hand, the release of chemicals used during the construction into the local rivers have imperiled the fish and other aquatic animals. The rivers in wards 4, 5, 11 and 12 have also been polluted because of the chemicals, said Lamichhane. He insisted that alternative pond should be built to store the chemicals. 

He informed the local representatives had already drawn the attention of the officials of the Nepali Army, which has been constructing the project, and the officials of the Chinese construction company, which won the contract to dig the tunnel, to solve the problem through proper management of the debris and chemicals. 

He said that they were preparing to write to the project asking it to properly manage the chemicals used in tunneling and rocks and mud released during the construction of the national pride project.

A team of Rural Municipality Chair Lamichhane, and Ward Chairmen Rajan Dangal, Gopal Bahadur Nesur, Gyanendra Bajgai, and others had reached the project site to draw the attention of the companies to the risks posed by the debris to the human settlements.