Ratnanagar- A water mover machine has been used for the first time on Bishajari Lake to remove encroaching plant species. The lake is enlisted as a World Ramsar site and lies along the bio-corridor inside the Tikauli woods in Chitwan.
The machine was developed by Nepali engineers—who had graduated from Pulchowk Engineering College—after three months of unrelenting efforts. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) provided an investment of Rs 600,000 for the development of the machine. A month-long test-run of the water mover was successfully concluded on Sunday and the machine was handed over to the local consumers committees at Barandabhar and Mrigakunja which are working on lake conservation.
WWF America vice-president, Roberto Troya, handed over the file related to the transfer of the machine to Devraj Sapkota and Basu Dhungana, the presidents of the two consumers committees, respectively. On the occasion, Troya, hoped that the machine would be very useful in cleaning the lake by removing the encroaching plant species.
The water mover machine can remove one ton of weeds in a single use. The lake is spread over 32 hectares and is considered important for birds, rhinos, tiger, spotted deer, antelope, deer and crocs. The numbers of tourists visiting the lake has also been going up over the last few years. RSS
