Illegal excavation at Madaha River continues

By Ravindra Upreti,Bardibas, Jan. 5: Crusher cabals have been illegally excavating the Madaha Khola (river) located at Mahottari’s Gaushala Municipality Ward No. 10.

The rivers under the municipality's jurisdiction have not yet been leased out officially. However, the crusher industries have been operating illegally in the area. Backed by groups of gangsters, indiscriminate excavation has been carried out in the river during nighttime.

When forest patrols arrived at the site to stop the illegal activity, they were attacked. 

Division Forest Officer Ajay Kumar Mishra said that Armed Forest Guard Bidur Adhikari was injured in the attack by hooligans hired by the crusher mafia. Mishra also said that the group seized the vehicles and drivers detained by the patrol team.

During a regular patrol at around 4 am, forest personnel witnessed illegal excavation along the Madaha River and its banks. They detained an excavator and five tippers. 

According to Sikindar Chaudhary, the patrol commander and Sub-Division Forest Officer of Maithan, the drivers of the seized vehicles fled toward the west bank of the river, where the Jai Ma Jalpa Stone, Gravel, and Sand Washing Center is located.

Shortly after, a group of 15 to 16 people arrived on motorcycles, verbally abused the forest personnel and created chaos, Chaudhary reported. “Although some drivers fled, we detained five vehicles and one tipper driver. However, the group used force to seize all the vehicles and the driver. Adhikari was injured while resisting them,” Chaudhary added.

Despite being immediately informed, only three police personnel from the nearby area police office, located 2 kilometres away, arrived at the scene after a significant delay. 

By then, the group of people had fled. Due to the cold winter night and dense fog, the group could not be identified, Chaudhary said. However, the forest patrol team managed to photograph the vehicles involved in the excavation, capturing the license plates of four vehicles on a mobile camera.

Based on the photos, actions are being initiated against a 3 Ka 1116 excavator and vehicles with registration numbers Pradesh 2-03-001 Ka 0592, Pradesh 2-03-001 Ka 0392 and Pradesh 2-03-001 Ka 0582, Chaudhary said.

Following the incident, a team led by District Coordination Committee Chairperson Suman Lal Karn, Gaushala Municipality Deputy Mayor Renu Mahato, Division Forest Officer Ajay Kumar Mishra and representatives from the Area Administration Office of Gaushala inspected the site.

During the inspection, it was found that most of the vehicles detained by the forest patrol had been taken to the Ma Jalpa Stone, Gravel and Sand Washing Center.

In the riverbank area of the Madaha River, illegal excavation has created pits 150 metres long, 30 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep. Some of the pits were found filled back with extracted gravel and sand, according to the monitoring committee.

Division Forest Officer Ajay Kumar Mishra said, “The monitoring committee has also seized 873 cubic metres of gravel and sand from the illegally excavated riverbed. Legal actions will be initiated based on the reports received.”

Although some local governments have entered the leasing process for the current fiscal year 2024/2025, no official leases have been issued for river excavations in the district.