Butwal, April 17:The local Tinau river is becoming more polluted day by day.

This information was given at an interaction programme on the protection of the Tinau.

It was disclosed on the occasion that part of the reason for pollution was the discharge of effluent into the river and its use by people living in the vicinity as an open toilet.

The municipality throws garbage into the river, people living along the banks thow in rubbish and dirt and butchers the bones and leftovers from animal slaughter, it is learnt.

The participants attributed change in the quality of the river and reduction in the volume of water flow each succeeding year to the decreased flow at the source, increasing population, dwindling forests and lack of planning.

Water from the river is used to irrigate thousands of Bigha of land in  the Terai region and to meet the demand for water in most parts of Butwal municipality.

The river has also been utilised to generate power and as a source of income for the municipality and the district development committee.

Deputy mayor Bimal Bahadur Shakya said at the programme that the municipality has allocated Rs 100,000 to design a “Save the Tinau Programme” jointly with Nepal engineers association.

Meanwhile, Kailali District ForestOffice   has demolished 3,000 houses, sheds and huts built on encroached forest land.

Of the structures demolished under a special drive, 1,857 were located across the Mohani river at Ratanpur VDC and 1,236 were at Ward No. 8 Bandargaudi of Hasuliya VDC.

The demolition was carried out jointly by the district forest office, the district administration and the district police office.

About 200 Bigha of forest cover at Ratanpur VDC and 70 Bigha at Hasuliya VDC have been secured through the demolition.

The district forest office has launched the special programme to prevent encroachment of forest cover.

Earlier, between March 25 to 30, some 434 houses, sheds and huts built on encroached forest area were demolished at various places in the district. Encroachment is the main reason for deforestation in Kailali.

About 45 per cent of land in the district is forest cover, but nearly 1,200 Bigha is being deforested annually, it is believed.