Bini Dahal

Located in the Terai of Nepal, the Churia rage is one of the most important parts of the country. It stretches from the east to the west below the Mahabharat range and is very prone to frequent natural disasters like landslide and soil erosion. Owing to a rise in the number of people living in and around this belt and unsustainable human activities, issues such as landslips and deforestation are pretty much a common occurrence. This poses a great threat to the locals' lives and livelihoods.
Ecologists as well as the locals have realised the need to preserve this region in view of its fragile ecology. But the federal government's newly unveiled budget for the fiscal year 2021/22 says something else. The government has incorporated a plan to extract the mine-based stones, pebbles and sands from the Churia belt. It plans to export these non-renewable natural resources to India in order to reduce the widening the trade deficit with the southern neighbour. Taking the environmental aspect into consideration, the then government had decided to put a ban on mining in the Churia belt and exporting such resources.
It is good on the part of the government to explore ways to deal with the longstanding issue of trade deficit. But the initiative to exploit the natural resources of this vulnerable belt cannot be a sustainable move. So, many environmentalists and conservationists have called on the government to cancel this plan for once and all considering its long-term negative effects on the region's ecology.
The Ministry of Finance, however, has clarified that the plan to generate more revenues by extracting the natural resources of this vulnerable region will be implemented only after carrying out a proper assessment of the various environmental impacts.
Globally, Nepal is known for her vast natural resources. Yet, it is a big irony that the country has been unable to ensure proper use of these resources. The government needs to understand that the fact that the monetisation of the Chure range will surely backfire. It might have to incur further losses and spend more money on protecting lives from dangerous natural disasters in the near future.
The government has allocated a budget of Rs. 1.53 billion under the heading of Chure conservation programme. This money will be utilised in constructing 200 ponds for recharging groundwater and controlling soil erosion problem. This speaks volumes about the urgency to conserve the Chure region.
If the mining industry indeed runs in a full-fledged manner in the Chure range, the need for mined sand and rocks will be utilised for rural development activities in Nepal itself instead of exporting them to India. As per a study conducted by the UNDP in 2011, Nepal generated Rs. 1 billion in revenue from riverbed materials in the fiscal year 2009-10. But the cost involved with repairing and maintaining the roads stood at Rs. 11 billion.
Sources for making revenues are varied in nature. Just an identification of the right source counts. We have been quite active in signing different international pacts that advocate for sustainable use of natural resources and environmental conservation. But if we are guided by such short-term profit motives, these pacts will be useless. Hopefully, the government will review this plan before implementing it. If not, we will be forced to prepare for bigger natural calamities that are beyond our capacity to handle.