INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, January 16
The government has decided to allow India to take home 173,072 kilogram red sandalwood from Nepal within 90 days
The precious wood was confiscated by Nepal Police while being smuggled to China from India via Nepal, over a period of one decade.
Speaking
at a press conference organised in Singha Durbar to disclose the decisions of the January 13 Council of Ministers, Minister of
Communications and Information Gokul Prasad Baskota said red sandalwood would be handed over to the concerned Indian authority through the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs as per Article VII of the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Control
Act-2016.
Both Nepal and India are parties to the CITES, which has stipulated a provision of returning confiscated contraband to the country
of origin.
&We have granted permission for India to take home the red sandalwood within 90 days.
The transportation cost for returning the
precious wood will be borne by India,& said the minister
Red sandalwood is an aromatic tropical hardwood tree which is endemic to southern India
This species does not naturally grow in Nepal
The wood was confiscated from racketeers while being smuggled to China from India via Nepal.
The Ministry of Forests and Environment was
having a hard time to manage the stash of red sandalwood seized from smugglers
At least four to five armed police personnel have been deployed to guard the red sandalwood on the premises of the Department of Forest in
Earlier, government authorities had said they were ready to hand over the contraband to India, the country of origin, after necessary
verification, in accordance with existing national and international laws.
The Cabinet decided to accept loan assistance of approximately Rs
12.76 billion to be provided by European Investment Bank for upgradation and extension of electricity grid and approve the Nepal-China
mutual legal assistance treaty on criminal offence.
Minister Baskota said the government had also decided to increase the remuneration of
local staffers working in Nepali missions abroad, acquire land for expansion and upgradation of Tamagadhi-Simraungadh road section in
Birgunj, allow the Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Duhabi 400 kV Transmission Line Project to use 80.66 hectares of national forest area and formulate
National Forensic Lab Operation Bill.
In yet another decision, the government will form a five-member talks team headed by the chief of
Monitoring and Evaluation Division at the Ministry of Forests and Environment to negotiate with the World Bank regarding the payment to be
received by Nepal with respect to carbon trade.
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