SARLAHI: Illegal extraction of riverbed products, including sand and gravel has continued unabated in Sarlahi district despite the ban. This has aggravated deforestation in the Chure region.

Extraction of the riverbed products from the Lakhandehi, Bagmati, Kalinchowk and Fuljor rivers have gone unchecked in various pretexts, locals have said.

The rivers witnessing the increasing extraction of river materials are located at the range of 500-metres to seven kilometers from the East West Highway.

In some places, the extracted products have been explicitly gathered on the road and are supplied to India through interior routes, locals said.

The increasing instances of illegal extraction has consequently caused recurrent flooding and landslides and sharp fall in agro production in Tarai-Madhes, according to chief of the division forest office, Sarlahi, Madhav Prasad Dev.

State Assembly member Bechi Lungeli stressed the need for resolving the matter locally. He called for local level not to contract extraction of river products randomly.