DHANGADHI: Sudurpaschim (Far-West) Province is yet to get its permanent capital.

Earlier, the State had endorsed with a two-thirds majority the proposal to name Godawari of Kailali as its permanent capital. The location for the project is a forest area between wards 3 and 4 of Godawari Municipality.

According to the chief secretary of the state government, Narayan Prasad Bidari, process of naming the state was in limbo as they were waiting for the central government's response to their request to manage the land for the project.

He added that discussions related to the issue were carried out at a political level during Prime Minister's Dhangadhi visit and that necessary process will be initiated once the centre gives the nod.

However, the issue has landed in the Supreme Court as a writ petition has been filed there challenging the State Assembly's decision. A petition has been filed in the Supreme court against the establishment of the capital in Godawari as it will lead to destruction of Chure forests, corridors of the Mohana river and biodiversity.

Responding to the petition, the court has issued a show-cause order to the defendants. The State has submitted a response to the court's order, said Bidari.

The stakeholder groups have been arguing that building the state capital at Godawari will clear the forests which will ultimately lead to denudation in the Chure area, adversely affecting the Mohana river corridor as it would destroy the bio-diversity in the upstream area.

Responding to the environmental concerns, coordinator of the special recommendation committee, Tara Lama Tamang, said that the recommended space for building the state capital is scrubland and the infrastructures could be built without harming the environment.

"The State Assembly has done its job of fixing the place for building the state capital and the government is also said to be doing its job," Tamang, who is also the chief whip of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) parliamentary party in the State Assembly, said.

The allocated location for the state capital, Godawari, is around 18 kilometres north of Dhangadhi, the present temporary state capital. It is the main transit point leading to the hilly districts of the Far-West State.