CHITWAN: A limestone quarry in Shaktikhor of east Chitwan has put an entire village in the area at risk, locals have complained.

Extraction of limestone loosens the soil causing landslides while limestone dust poses a serious health risk. Likewise, some amounts of limestone extracted from the quarry have spilled over and buried water supply pipes.

Likewise, some amount of limestone extracted from the quarry have spilled over and buried water supply pipes, locals said.

The quarry has placed the entire Kolar village at a risk, said a local resident Ram Maya Chepang. "

"Either the quarry should be closed or the village should be relocated," she said. The village has 42 houses with Chepangs in the majority.

The locals shared their problems at a public hearing organised by the District Development Committee in cooperation with the Chitwan Administration Office, Women Sustainable Development Centre and Campaign against Corruption, Chitwan.

Locals, most of whom are from Chepang community, of remote Kolar of Chitwan district holding a meeting to discuss the impacts of a road construction and limestone quarry in this recent photograph. Photo: Keshav P. Koirala

Nepali Congress' Chitwan district President Jit Narayan Shrestha said that the quarry should be closed in view of the problems it had been creating while Local Development Officer Shrawan Kumar Pokharel asked the affected local people to lodge a written complaint.

Although the quarry has come into operation for the second time around 11 months after a break, it has halted operation since a week ago following protests by locals.

On the other hand, the company that has been running the quarry claimed that the quarry was being run after carrying out an environmental impact assessment.