COURTS CLOSE DOWN SUNDAY TO MOURN MURDER OF JUSTICE BAM Kathmandu, 3 June; Courts remained closed nation-wide Sunday to mourn the mmurder of Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam by shooting in the capital Thursday. A police team is investing the shooting in which two persons were Injured and are undergoing treatment at Norvic Hospital. No arrests have been made. Eyewitnesses said two motorcyclists stopped Bam’s car and shot him dead. Nnnn TRADER SHOT, INJURED IN RAUTAHAT Kathmandu, 3 June: Trader Nabal Kishore Sah was shot and injured at Jokaha-9 in Rautahat Friday night by three motorcyclists. Sah was rushed across the border for medical treatment at Motihari. Nnnn 106 YEAR-OLD CHEPANG WOMAN GETS CITIZENSHIP Kathmandu, 3 June: Debi Maya Chepang, a 106-year-old Cheang woman, received her citizenship Saturday at her home Khirang in Makwanpur, Kantipur reports. It takes nine hours to walk tp the village from Manahari on the Mahendra Highway. She received the citizenship certificate from CDO Basanta Raj Bhattarai. “I should now get my allowances,: she said after collecting the certificate. nnnn $50 ADB EFFORT TO RESTORE BAGMATI RIVER Kathmandu, 3 June: The Bagmati Civilisation Integrated Development Committee (BCIDC) has initiated a new programme to give new looks to the holy Bagmati River. According to the BCIDC, Asian Development Bank (ADB) is going to provide US 50 million dollars to improve the condition of upper to lower areas adjacent to the Bagmati River, The Rising Nepal reports. As per the Bagamti River Improvement Project (BRIP), the BCIDC has divided the project into three parts -namely the upper part, buffer zone and lower part to preserve the environment of the Bagmati River, to minimize the incidents of water-borne disaster and to help develop the city. "It was the first time that ADB has provided such big funds for the development of Bagmati River," said Mahesh Basnet, president of BCIDC. Several government and non-government organizations have been working to uplift the Bagmati and invested lots of money. But the problem of Bagamati River has not been resolved as of yet. The reality today is that the holy Bagmati River exists as an open sewer rather than a holy river. Under the BCIDC project, water at upper part has been stored which will be supplied down the river Bagmati. The water will also be used to promote wet land at various places. yhe BCIDC has already started works to ensure the flow of clean water in the river up to Pashupatinath Tample area. The government approved the Bagmati Plan which was given the responsibility to work for cultural development and environmental conservation of the important sites lying on the sides of the river. Basnet said, "By flowing clean water up to Pashupatinath Temple, we are committed to increase the religious faith of the visitors towards Pashupatinath and the Bagmati." Under the project, the skill oriented programme will lunch in the buffer zone, trees will be planted at the banks of both sides of the river, setting up of embankment at Gorkarna to Tilganga to improve the environment, several kinds of garden will be made from eight kilometer areas of Sundarijal to Gokarana and develop new city with facilities of banks, conference halls, schools, colleges, and transportation. Land acquisition up to 3000 ropanis and well made to develop new city. The dream city will cover the five Village Development Committee-namely Nayapati, Sundarijal, Gokarna, Bhadrabas and Danchhi. After the long exercise, the government had succeeded to demolish around 251 illegally built huts on the banks of the Bagmati River on May 8. Basnet informed the government has arranged eight ropanis of land at Ichangu Naryan Village Development Committee of Kathmandu for the resettlement of landless squatters. The Housing Department has passed a tender-bid to manage the sewage system on May 31 in Bagmati River, according to the department. nnnn CHURE THREATENED BY RESOURCE OVERUSE Kathmandu, 3 June: Various stakeholders stated that people living in and around Chure area are at risk because of the over exploitation of the Chure area resources which has often led to natural disasters and caused damages to bio-diversity, land productivity and economy, The Rising Nepal reports from Nawalparasi. . They said the water level of the streams coming down from much Chure area was gradually increasing posing a great risk to human lives. The people residing at this region are under the risk because the development activities are taking place rapidly without evaluating the long term environmental consequences. They said that when the existence of the region itself was at the risk, bio-diversity of this region was gradually disappearing. Various organizations and environment experts have been claiming that for managing the area in a sustainable way, there is a need of introducing well managed policies. Central member of Federation Community Forest Consumer Group (FCFCG), Nawalparasi, Chhattra Raj Poudel said a total of 77 places of the district and 38 areas of Chure area are being encroached. There is a need of initiating immediate conservation campaign through the effort from the locals, he added. Chairperson of NGO Federation, Badri Nepal, said that the Chure conservation polices should be made by considering the livelihood pattern of the people residing at the lower and upper level of the area. Stating that the massive deforestation occurring at hilly areas of the area has given rise to the soil erosion, Poudel of CFFCG said there should be an effective policy that must aim at controlling the soil-erosion and provide alternative solution for the livelihood of the locals. District Forest Office informed that the VDCs like Dumkibas, Naya Belhani, Shivamandir, Kawaswoti, Agyauli, Deurali and Narayani are considered as the most affected VDCs by the over exploitation of the resources of Chure area. The region is facing problems due to various streams that run from north to south- from the district of Palpa to Nawalparasi. Because of the massive exploitation of forest and other natural resources of the area, soil erosion, landslides and floods are occurring regularly. Central Member of CFFCG Poudel said the increasing encroachment, uncontrolled grazing, conflict of land authority, smuggling of forest products, unmanaged boating, extraction of stones and other forms of human interference have been causing destruction of the Chure. It has also caused negative impact on land productivity, adverse impact on human lives, properties and economy, he added. nnnn