BIRATNAGAR: The 30-kilometer-long luxuriant green forest, stretching between Belbari and Urlabari of Morang, has bit by bit been converting into a burial ground as local residents enjoy unfettered access to construction of cemeteries.

The encroachment of the national forest in the north-east of Morang is now at its peak, said Gopal Guragain, a local resident of Pathari.

"If this was not stopped immediately, the large swathe of national forest between Urlabari to Belbari will soon be occupied by cemeteries," he said.

Guragain recounts how rapidly the lush forest that stretches along the Mahendra highway in Belbari, Kanepokhari, Pathari and Urlabari VDCs is shedding off its colour and looking uglier as the construction of cemeteries continues unabated.

One of the deadliest encroachments of the forest is now going on in Pathari VDC. According to the locals, the authority has not taken any measures to stop the rampant construction of cemeteries in the forest area, north of the highway.

Local residents in Urlabari, Mangalbare, Pathari, Sanischare, Hasandah, Madumalla and Damak frequently bring dead bodies to this forest for burial and construct concrete cemeteries in the woods.

This area adjacent to the dense forest surrounding Pathari VDC is mostly populated by the Janajatis, who construct cemeteries as per their tradition.

"The tradition of building a cemetery in the place where the dead body is buried continues since ages," said Man Bahadur Rai, a local resident of Urlabari.

Culturally, cemeteries are built by Rai, Limbu and Tamang communities. The cost of a concrete cemetery ranges from Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000; depending on how well off a family is economically.

Subash Bhandari, member of Salbari Community Forest Consumers' Group in Mangalbare of Urlabari, said that since the construction of cemeteries was handed down from many generations, it was hard to put a stop to such deep-rooted cultural practice in ethnic communities.

"The government has not given any alternative to cemetery and it is impossible to discontinue the tradition at once," he added.

"We cannot neglect people's tradition but at the same time we cannot be mute spectator to the rampant encroachment of the forest by those constructing cemeteries," Suman Bhurtel, a local resident, said.

District Forest Office in Morang, said the number of cemeteries in the district has exceeded 4,000. The number of non-concrete

cemeteries could be even more, officials said, citing lack of data.

The Office also informed that from environmental point of view the construction of cemeteries in the forest was not appropriate.

Though the Office promised years ago to take initiatives to manage such constructions in the forest areas, it has not done anything yet. According to the locals, the Office has put up some notice boards along the highway to create awareness among the people about the issue, but none seems to have given any heed to it.

The notices state that the construction of cemeteries is not allowed on the northern side of the highway. But the locals have constructed most of those cemeteries on the northern side of the highway.

If the indiscriminate construction of concrete cemeteries, which continues for the last five decades, was not stopped immediately, the 30-kilometer-long forest cover stretching between Urlabari and Belbari would soon turn into a burial ground, with severe consequences for environment, according to District Forest Office in Morang.