A massive scale of sand, gravel and stone mining has been found at the river beds of Sunkoshi and Indrawati by the crusher operators. Large number of excavators can be seen at both the river basins, extracting huge amounts of river material which might even change the course of the rivers.

One can notice both the river banks being covered with large number of excavators and tippers, as well as large potholes on the river beds. This, according to the locals, is likely to change the river course, increasing the threat of flooding to the nearby settlements during upcoming monsoon.   

Government agencies such as the district development committee, district and police administration have time and again monitored the situation, the crusher operators have not bothered at all. 

The government has made it mandatory to conduct an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) before the river material mining. According to IEE, operators are not allowed to make pits deeper than two meters while extracting river material but the contractors have failed to abide by that rule.  They have shown utter disregard for the law, chasing away the locals who were extracting river material with homemade equipments for their livelihood. 

Antar Bahadur Silwal, chief district officer of Sindhupalchok, agreed that the crusher operators were involved in irregularities and said strong action will be taken against them. “We have already stopped the extraction at Indrawati river bank,” said Silwal. “We will soon stop the extraction at Sunkoshi river bank.”