Dang park affected people boycott voting

Kathmandu. Banke National Park affected people boycotted voting in Dang. Not a single voter cast their ballots at the polling centre of Deuti Secondary School Malai in Babai Rural Municipality-7 and Janata Basic School in Babai-1 of Dang buffer zone.

According to election officer Chiranjibi Khadka, voters have not turned up at the polling centre at Deuti Secondary School in Babai Rural Municipality-7 till 10:30 am. The polling station is deserted. There are 682 voters in the district. The situation is similar at a centre in Babai-1. Voters have not yet arrived. There are 530 voters in Janata Basic School. Chairman of the Struggle Committee, Chandra Bahadur, said that Rangu Magar has decided to boycott the election.

“We had announced that we would not vote if our demands were not addressed. We have decided not to vote in the election after consulting all the villagers. The agitating victims have been threatening to boycott the elections demanding the relocation of the settlements for a long time.

Some areas of the erstwhile Panchkule and Purandhara VDCs of Dang were declared as buffer zones. According to the locals, the number of wildlife has increased with the declaration of the national park in the area. Local journalist Prem Pun said that the fear of wild animals and tigers has also increased. According to him, wildlife has been facing the problem of eating crops and livestock for a long time.