Crusher plants operating without registration

By Nabinraj Kuinkel,Lamjung, May 8: Several crusher plants have been found operating without registration or permits along the banks of the Chepe River in Rainas Municipality-6, Lamjung.

A monitoring team discovered that three crusher plants operating around Chepeghat in Syauli of the district are running without being registered with the concerned authorities or obtaining the required operational permits.

Chief District Officer Krishna Prasad Khanal said the operators had registered their companies with the Office of the Company Registrar for joint investment purposes, but had neither registered the industries with the relevant bodies nor secured operating licences.

“During monitoring, all three crusher plants were found to be operating without registration and permits. We have asked them to produce documents immediately if they have any, otherwise, they will be shut down,” Khanal said. He added that the plants also fail to meet required standards.

The district-level monitoring committee, led by District Coordination Committee Chief Purna Bahadur Gurung, inspected Agro Diamond Construction Pvt Ltd, Mangal Marg Construction and Crusher Pvt Ltd, and Champawati Stone, Gravel and Sand Processing Centre. 

According to the committee, some operators failed to appear on-site despite being called during the inspection.

The monitoring team included District Police Chief DSP Jitendra Kumar Basnet, Armed Police DSP Bikash Adhikari, Divisional Forest Officer Deepak Prasad Pandit, Chief Treasury Controller Bhaworaj Joshi, District Coordination Officer Mahesh Subedi, Rainas Municipality Chief Administrative Officer Shivaraj Regmi, and engineers.

According to Subedi, the inspection was conducted to assess whether the plants comply with the government’s 2020 standards on extraction, sale and management of stone, gravel and sand. 

As irregularities were found, the operators have been directed to submit registration, renewal documents, licences and other paperwork to the district monitoring committee. The committee said that Agro Diamond Construction Pvt Ltd had received permission from Rainas Municipality in 2019 to install a mobile crusher. However, there is no record of approvals or renewals from other authorities.

The plants, located close to the river, have been extracting stone, gravel and sand from the Chepe River in violation of regulations. They have reportedly remained closed for about a month.

Sources said that one of the operators of Champawati Processing Centre is also a ward chairperson, Gobinda Chiluwal.

According to the 2020 standards, crusher plants must be located at least 500 metres from highways, rivers or streams; two kilometres from educational, health, religious, cultural and security institutions; 500 metres from concrete bridges; two kilometres from international borders; 200 metres from forests, national parks, dense settlements and high-tension lines; 500 metres from lakes and ponds; and 1,500 metres from the foothills of the Chure range.

Although the government relaxed these standards in 2023 by reducing the required distances by half, they have since been reinstated. 

Monitoring officials said the crusher plants along the Chepe River have failed to comply with these standards and have not obtained the necessary permits.