Why Bring Politics In Environment? | Sudarshan Poudel

Environment, the base of life, is never a concern to any political debates. Instead, it’s a great topic at tea stalls. Our concerned bodies may not be aware or careless enough. Anyone trying to urge for this topic will be hit hard for making a mountain of a molehill.

From the history of destroying the “Charkoshe Jhadi” jungle to point 199 of the fiscal budget presented by Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, the environment is never a concern of policymaking levels. Excavation and export of pebbles, sand, and timber from the Chure area are triggering the unproductivity of the food basket of Nepal; the Terai region. This alarming possibility couldn’t alarm the sense of conservation and protection of the environment.

The first spell of monsoon has left horrifying residue. Different places were wrecked because of landslides and floods. The damages would have been reduced if the environment was not exploited. But, neither it’s of political concern nor an educated community.

Accelerating excavators to random hills without survey or inspection is today’s development. These developments based on the ideas of bulldozer operators and causes hundreds of landslides every monsoon. These developments do not sustain for long, degrade environmental qualities, and leads to massive loss of life and property. But, again these cases are still not in the sight of any responsible authorities.

Developments are meant to be sustainable. This should be done with as minimum environmental damage as possible. Environmental degradation has very long-term effects in every other sector. It should be used properly and preserved for future generations.

A very sad side but most of the income of local authorities comes from sand mining and other material’s excavation from the river banks. These exploitations result in the degradation of water sources and may result in the extinction of different organisms. Furthermore, it may cause disasters leaving back hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, and million rupees loss.

It seems like contractors have made it to the decision-making levels. The surge of excavation of sand, pebbles, and deforestation is at an alarming rate. But no subsequent steps have been taken For the prevention. Instead of preservation activities, leaders are seemed to be developing Crusher industries with millions of turnover per year. Many river banks are exploited to their limit, whereas many sources are in vulnerable situations.

Hundreds of local authorities but no one has a proper waste disposing system. Pollution is at its highest level. Air quality is decreased and many other resources are the dirtiest. There is a high possibility of drying of water resources and temperature is highest of all. This is a first warning to start steps to take cure of our environment. Planting few trees on environment day is not enough. We should be more aware and active.

So far no person in power seems to have envisioned the need for the preservation of the environment. This needs to be a political agenda and enough steps are needed to be taken immediately. The environment is a boon to the Nepalese society but soon it would be a curse if not cured properly.