Gauriganga Municipality dumping waste on wildlife corridor in Kailali

Kailali: Gauriganga Municipality in Kailali has been found dumping solid waste on a key route used by wildlife, including tigers, along the Basanta Biological Trail.

The dumping site, established with temporary permission nine years ago, has yet to be removed. It lies within the boundaries of the Gauri Ganesh and Hariyali Basanta Community Forests between Wards 4 and 8 of Gauriganga Municipality.

According to Om Prakash Sapkota, Chairman of the Community Forest Coordination Committee Masuria, the site is located directly on a path used by tigers and other wild animals. “The garbage dumped in the Badhaipur-Rajipur forest area has affected tigers and other wildlife,” Sapkota said. “This year, a fire also broke out after the municipality burned garbage, damaging the forest and harming animals. Tigers prefer odor-free habitats, but the stench of waste has disturbed their environment.”

Former District Forest Officer Ramesh Chand Thakuri described the dumping of garbage on a subsidiary road connected to the Basanta Biological Trail as a serious mistake. “This has caused more harm to wildlife than to humans,” Thakuri said. “The municipality must immediately remove the dumping site and manage waste properly.”

Krishnadatta Bhatta, Chief of the Division Forest Office in Kailali, admitted that the municipality acted against environmental standards by establishing a dumping site in the community forest. “We have repeatedly instructed the municipality to remove it, but our directives have been ignored,” he said.

Deputy Mayor of Gauriganga Municipality, Bhoj Bahadur Bam, said that the dumping site existed before his tenure. “We have not taken official permission, but since no other land was available, the site was used temporarily,” he said, acknowledging the environmental impact. “We are now searching for new land for waste management.”

Dirgha Narayan Koirala, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment of the Far West Province, clarified that municipalities cannot dump waste in forests without ownership rights. “The site is open and unfenced, and the waste is neither sorted nor processed,” he said. “There is a high risk of wildlife becoming sick from consuming plastic products.”

Sapkota said animals such as leopards, deer, chital, wild boar, nilgai, and monkeys that use the Basanta Corridor are being affected by indiscriminate dumping. “The forest is turning unsightly due to plastic and other waste,” he said. “The risk of animals falling ill or dying after consuming these materials is increasing.”

Experts have also warned that other municipalities, including Ghodaghodi and Lamkichuha, have created similar dumping sites within community forests without authorization, posing a major challenge to forest conservation in the region.