DHADING, JULY 16

Workers in Dhading have been compelled to extract sand and gravel from the Trishuli River without adopting any safety measure during the monsoon.

A youth at Galchhi Rural Municipality-4 has gone missing since July 8 while extracting sand from the river.

Another missing person, Tara Bahadur Lungeli Magar, 16, is yet to be found. Employed by a local contractor Dil Bahadur Bhandari, Magar was working in the river extracting sand with his friends and relatives.

Magar’s family had reached an agreement that they would receive Rs 350,000 from the contractor and Rs 100,000 from the rural municipality, as compensation. The contractor had agreed to provide the compensation amount at a meeting.

A local, Sagar Lamichhane said the decision was made in the presence of Chief District Officer Asman Tamang, District Coordination Committee Chief Jagannath Nepal, SP Rabindra Regmi, Galchhi Rural Municipality Chairman Krishna Hari Shrestha and Vice-chairman Radha Timilsina.

Though they extract the sand and gravel from the river risking their lives, the workers cannot sell the sand by themselves. Chairman of Galchhi Rural Municipality Krishna Hari Shrestha said workers had been dying due to the negligence on the part of the contractors.

He said the contractors were directed to ensure safety of the workers and their insurance.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 17, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.