The Supreme Court has issued an interim order stating that no work should be done to affect the natural course of the Kaligandaki River.
A single bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana issued the interim order stating that the natural course of the Kaligandaki River should not be diverted to create a reservoir. The order also mentions there should be no extraction of aggregates from the river that could pollute the environment of the area.
Moreover, the order mentions there should be no extraction of shaligram stones (black stones in which fossil ammonites are embedded) from the river.
After the previous government decided to move ahead with the Kaligandaki River Diversion Project various environmentalists and lawyers had filed writ petitions at the Supreme Court seeking an order to halt the project. While hearing the writs on Tuesday, Chief Justice Rana said that the river holds religious, historical and environmental significance so until the final verdict has been issued on the matter no such activity should take place to divert the flow of the Kaligandaki River.
Senior advocate Prakash Mani Sharma, who is also the chairperson of Janahit Sanrakshan Manch, along with other lawyers had filed the writs wherein the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers; chief ministers and Council of Ministers of Gandaki and Lumbini provinces; and the local levels of Baglung, Parbat, Myagdi, Palpa, Syangja, Gulmi, Tanahun and Mustang districts were made the defendants.
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