Siraha, January 30:

Some 200 households in Kopche of Siraha will now be able to collect fodders and firewood from their community forest after the forest was declared free from mines yesterday.

British ambassador to Nepal Andrew Hall formally handed over the clearance certificate to the local administration.

The then Royal Nepal Army had laid 202 explosives in 5,310 square metres of the community forest to protect a telecommunication tower erected there.

“It took 31 days for 10 NA deminers to clear the area. We identified 93 explosives in the site,” Captain Manoj Gurung, mine site manager, said. “The demining time took longer than expected as the record of explosives was misplaced.”

According to Siriya Mahara, president of Chure community forest, some people had taken away some of the explosives in the past when there was no security person to keep a vigil in the area. “The explosives claimed two lives and injured two more,” he added.

Ambassador Hall visited the demined areas and observed the NA personnel demonstrating their skills.

After handing over the clearance certificate to assistant CDO Dilip Rayamajhi, Hall said, “It is important for me to observe this. Though the conflict ended long time back, people are still killed and maimed by explosives. It takes incredible patience and safety has to be paramount in this process.”

Stiff terrain, thick vegetation makes the demining job challenging, said Steve Robinson, chief of UN Mine Action Team (UNMAT) to Nepal. “It might take five years, depending on weather as well as funds, to clear all the minefields across Nepal,” he added.

This is the seventh minefeld that NA has cleared and handed over to the locals, with the technical assistance of UNMAT and UNICEF. Forty-six such minefields, laid across the country to protect assets, are yet to be cleared of mines.

Rayamajhi handed over the certificate to Siriya Mahara, president of Chure community forest.

The British Embassy has been funding UNMAT Nepal since August 2008.