Ramechhap, October 7

Three months into the new fiscal, District Development Committee, Ramechhap has yet to award the contract to extract and export natural resources.

Local Development Officer of the district Dineshraj Pant said the DDC had failed to award the contract to extract and export herbs, sand and aggregates despite publishing a public notice in this regard before the beginning of the new fiscal. The District Ddevelopment Committee  has issued tender for the contract as many as seven times so far.

Last fiscal, the DDC had used its staffers to collect tax after the contract could not be awarded. The DDC staffers had collected Rs 1.7 million in tax last year. This year, the DDC had set the tender amount at Rs 5 million. Local entrepreneurs said no one applied as the DDC had set a huge amount.

Later, the tender amount was reduced to Rs 4 million. Entrepreneurs, however, said the new amount was still high as three months of the current fiscal had already passed.

The DDC’s failure to award the contract has led to the smuggling of sand and aggregates from major rivers and streams of the district.

Ramechhap police chief DSP Kumodh Dhungel said police personnel were actively working to check smuggling of natural resources.