KATHMANDU, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The new law introduced by the Nepali government came into force last week, stipulating that anyone found guilty of polluting will be jailed for five years in Nepal.
As per the new Criminal Code that came into implementation from Aug. 17, if anyone poses threat to people's health and life by polluting environment will be penalized.
"Anyone who is found guilty of producing mechanical noise, extreme heat, and wastage without the consent of authorized government officials will be jailed for five years or fined 50,000 Nepali Rupees (450 U.S. dollars) or both," Clause 112 of the Criminal Code states.
If anyone found guilty of producing, littering and dumping wastage haphazardly will be jailed for one year or fined 10,000 Nepali Rupees (89 U.S. dollars), according to the law.
Due to the rising concerns over the pollution of water resources mainly in urban areas, the new law has provisioned that those found guilty of polluting water sources, and making water undrinkable will be sentenced for three years in prison or fined 30,000 Nepali Rupees (270 U.S. dollars), or both.
If a person who uses drinking water sources for other purposes will be jailed for six months or fined 5,000 Nepali Rupees (45 U.S. dollars), or both.
"The criminal code has provisioned that stringent action can be taken against those who are found involved in polluting the environment. Introducing the new law to control the pollution is indeed a positive aspect," Safala Shrestha, a spokesperson of the Department of Environment, told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The spokesperson said the government agencies should join hands to implement the laws effectively in order to control environmental pollution across the country.
"Introducing laws are not enough, the implementation part is more challenging and for this it needs good coordination among the government agencies," she said.
The government's move has come amid rising concerns from multiple sectors including environmentalists regarding environment pollution in the Himalayan country.
