DILLIRAM KHATIWADA

Local residents at Tapeshwori and Thokshila VDCs in Udayapur have expressed concerns over the government plan to expand the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve saying that the move will displace over 1,400 families from the area.

A recent notice published by the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation states that it has initiated the process to expand the protected area up to Chatara Bridge in the north and Belaka forest in the west. The department has also asked locals and other stakeholders to offer inputs on the preliminary draft of its environment assessment report within the next 15 days.

Kamal Bista, a local resident, said hundreds of families living in the area will be rendered homeless. He said they were unable to harvest crops in the past due to animals straying out of the reserve and now they are going to be displaced from the area where they lived for generations. Dilli Ram Bimali, former chairman of Tapeshwori VDC, said locals were displaced even when the reserve was established in 1971. Many people who provided their land to the government are still landless.

Published on: 10 July 2015 | The Kathmandu Post