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Govt prepares to extend lease term of hotels in CNP

Bowing to pressure from tourism entrepreneurs, the government is preparing to extend the lease term of resorts operating in Chitwan National Park (CNP).

The Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) is forwarding the proposal to renew the lease agreement of the resorts to the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC).

“Our ministry will soon forward the proposal,” Mohan Krishna Sapkota, joint-secretary at MoCTCA told Republica.

Though the lease contract of the hotels inside CNP expired in July 2009, the hoteliers and the government had reached an agreement on relocating the hotels by mid-July, 2012 keeping in view the Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011.

With the deadline for relocation approaching, hoteliers have lobbying power centers to mount pressure on the government to extend their lease term.

Organizing a press conference on Sunday, the hoteliers asked the government to conduct an independent study to assess their contribution to the economy as well as the impact on biodiversity. The hotels operating inside CNP are Tiger Tops,Safari Narayani, Chitwan Jungle Lodge, Machan Wildlife Resort, Island Jungle Resort and Temple Tigers.

“We are ready to relocate from CNP if an independent study shows that the resorts have caused a negative impact on the bio-diversity of the park. There is no point in holding us responsible for environmental degradation,” said Basanta Mishra, managing director of Temple Tiger Resort.
The hoteliers claimed that around Rs 3 billion have been invested in the six resorts inside the park and said shutting down the hotels would have a negative impact on tourism activities in Chitwan.

Prakash Shresta, chairman of Machan Wildlife Resort said shutting down of the resorts would have have a negative impact on the business of airlines, tour operators and the overall earning of the tourism industry.

However, environmentalists have been exerting pressure on the government not to extend the lease term of the resorts claming that they have been destroying the precious bio-diversity of CNP, which is listed in World Natural Heritage Sites.

source:republica,8 July 2012