The second session of the Madhesh Manthan titled ‘Chure: The Basis of Madhes’ highlighted the importance of the conservation of the Chure region.

Ram Baran Yadav, Nepal’s first president, who inaugurated the programme earlier in the day, also stressed the need for immediate steps to protect the Chure region to prevent it from turning into a wasteland.

Speaking during the session, Kamala Oli Shivakoti, Board Member of the President Chure Tarai Madhesh Conservation Development Board said that the committee has been working towards the conservation of the Chure region formulating plans and policies that stand to support the conservation efforts.

“The board will work in coordination with the local level, provincial authorities and the private sector to protect the Chure region,” she said.

Shivakoti, Bhogendra Jha, Vice-Chairman of the Madhesh Province Policy and Planning Commission and Vijay Kumar Singh, an expert on the interrelationship between Chure and Tarai were the speakers for the second session.

Singh stressed the urgency of taking immediate steps to protect the Chure region from environmental degradation.

“Around 80,000 bighas of land in the Chure region has already become barren. If this continues, the Tarai region will soon turn into a desert,” said Singh. “Illegal encroachment of forest land has robbed Chure of its natural resources.”

Bhogendra Jha, Vice-Chairman of the Madhesh Province Policy and Planning Commission said that exploitation of the Chure region for economic benefits must stop. “The government has been trying to exploit the Chure in the name of reducing the trade deficit and promoting exports. This needs to stop,” he said.

The programme is happening in Janakpur today, in collaboration with the Madhesh Province government, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Information and Communications and the Province Assembly Secretariat.