Chitwan, October 21

The government’s preparations to allow hotels located inside the Chitwan National Park area to resume operation have draw flak from conservationists.

Earlier, Forest Minister Shankar Bhandari at a press meet on Wednesday had informed about the ministry’s preparations to grant permission to hotels shut for the last few years to resume operation.

Protesting the government preparations, local conservationists of Bio-diversity Concern Society issued a press statement on Wednesday. The statement reminded that the issue had once reached the Supreme Court a few years ago and back then the government had made it clear that it had no policy of allowing hotels to operate inside the national park.

Assistant Professor Krishna Kafle, a member of BCS, said, “Shutting hotels operating inside the national park area has not affected tourism. So, the government’s preparations to resume operation of the hotels is erroneous,” he said.

Earlier about two years ago, the Supreme Court, responding to a public litigation case filed by advocate Dhananjaya Khanal, had found that hotels were operating in national park area without conducting environment impact assessment. The court has also expressed concerns over its impact on natural environment of the park