Bhairahawa, May 31

The work related to environment impact assessment of the proposed Motipur Industrial Estate in Province 5 has began after completion of the detailed project report.

The proposed facility, tipped to be the largest in the province, occupies 813 bigaha land along the Tinau River banks west of Butwal.

“A team of environment experts have begun collecting suggestions from locals and local representatives. The assessment is expected to be completed by end of the current fiscal,” said Butwal Industrial Estate Chief Tul Bahadur Rana Chhetri. The estimated cost of the facility stands at Rs 5 billion.

Environment expert Ramita Shrestha, involved in the study, said the locals have asked to relocate settlements before setting up the proposed facility, which lies amidst a dense human settlement.

As for the location of the proposed estate, while local representatives are lobbying to have the estate somewhere away from human settlement, the Industrial Estate Management Limited has proposed to relocate the settlements instead.

In the preliminary survey of the industrial estate, some 700 houses of Motipur, Farsatikar and Tilottama could be shifted elsewhere to make way for the industrial estate.

According to Butwal Sub-metropolis Chief Shivaraj Subedi, such a development project costing eviction of hundreds of families from their villages is undesirable. “People want to see development, but that can’t achieved with the people at the receiving end,” he said.