“Locals here say the Karnali River is the sorrow of the region because they believe it originated from Rakchas lake (demon lake),” said Chairman of Nepal River Conservation Trust Megh Ale.
He says a recent study has discovered the fact that Karnali River was originated from Mapcha Khawab, which lies at the foothill of Mount Kailash, in China’s autonomous study—unlike the local belief. The study was conducted for 44 days a few months back.
In the third River Summit held in Dailekh, Ale said the Karnali river is a highly important river in terms of its rare specialty, and rich biodiversity, besides its social, cultural and economic reasons. Originating from Mt Kailash, Karnali river travels 507 kilometers and is the longest river of Nepal. The summit was held from March 28 to 31 in Birendranagar of Surkhet district.
There were a total of 9 different sessions where experts and scientists from within and outside the country held interactions on the importance of Karnali River, the opportunities and challenges seen in the utilization and conservation of the river, based on their studies.
Chairman Ale says Karnali River is the foundation for the conservation of Karnali Province. Echoing Ale’s view, Karnali Province Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi said, “Yes, Karnali River has enormous potentialities. But the experts need to do minute research and study and arrive at a conclusion on the model to be adopted for its holistic usage.” He stressed that the river should be turned into capital so as not to destroy its history and natural quality.
Kathmandu University Professor Dr Subodh Sharma said, “So far around 30,164 types of inscets have been found in Nepal. Of them, 14,826 are animals, and 87 percent of the organisms live in water. This proves that the water flowing in the Karnali River is not only important for drinking, cleaning and electricity generation.
“The fish, insects and algae are the indicators. They will give signal in case any kind of imbalance appear in cistern or water reservoir,” said Fish scientist Steve Lockett.
Fish expert Suresh Wagle said Karnali water reservoir is home to 7 native species of fish. Three rarer species of fish are found in Rara lake. “This is a matter of pride. All types of fish are facing threat due to the violent tendency of fishing,” he pointed out.
Excessive fishing, unmanaged extraction of river aggregates and the arrival of encroaching breed has put the fish at crisis, he said. Kathmandu University’s Water Ecology Department representative Rama Devi Tachmo Shah underscored the fact that the violent tendency of fishing has been destroying various insects and thereby affect the food chain of aquatic animals.
Tourism entrepreneur, Devraj Jaishi, who has been operating rafting in Karnali River, said they realized the importance of conserving the fish after the tourists paid more for watching the fish than buying them. “Locals, who were used to ask for biscuits and noodles while heading to the river with their raft-boat, have been selling their own products now,” said Jaishi.
Dolphin conservationist Bijaya Raj Shrestha shared about the changes brought by Dolphin conservation campaign. Sonaha leader Shanti Sonaha drew the attention towards the threats faced by their traditional profession. “We [Sonaha community] earn our livelihood with their friendship with fish. But non-Sonaha people use huge-net, explosives and poison. And we are at the receiving end of such tendency,” she said. She put forth an alternative of establishing a fish breeding center.
Pateshwori Chaudhary of Dang informed about the ongoing community effort for the conservation of Baikha fish. Birkha Bahadur Rokaya, of Chayanath Rara Municipality in Mugu, narrated about the progress they have made in the conservation of community forest. “There is no musk deer in the national park but we have them in our community forest,” he said.
Likewise, Brijraj Kushwaha, of Nawalparasi informed about the pressure activities being undertaken for resolving the problems in the agricultural output due to floods in Narayani river.
Central Member of Nepal fishermen upliftment society, Padam Majhi said the biggest concern for his community is the conservation of rivers as their history is tied to the river.
Karen Bennett of USA and Sakir Siddhiq and Dhruba Kumar of India, among others, elucidated about the activities, methods and practices adopted in their country for conservation of rivers. “The state law should be clear on the conservation and utilization of rivers,” said Siddhiq of India.
The fourth session of the summit revolved around hydropower. Kathmandu University Professor Dr Dambar Nepali said there can’t be better alternative to electricity for the development. He underscored that there should be extensive discussions on the appropriate model for ecology and biodiversity. “Nepal can build the proposed upper-Karnali hydropower on its own. But if that could not happen, then Karnali River can be kept clean and generate electricity from its tributaries to fulfill the dream of the local people,” he said. He said Public Private Partnership or ‘PPP’ model would be the most appropriate for hydropower.
Nepal Hydropower Development Program’s Robert Tylor said on the one hand Nepal needs electricity and on the other hand the river has multi-dimensional potentialities. He pointed out the need for a fact-based debate for hydroelectricity through coordination between all stakeholders.
Nepal Independent Energy Generation Association Chairman Kumar Pandey expressed readiness to develop hydropower based on the frame built by the government. “The government should give us frame,” he added.
According NEA Engineering Company Chief Hitendra Dev Shakya, the demand for electricity has been growing by 14 percent every year and according to government projection the demand for electricity would reach 15,000 MW by 2040. He said the government has been conducting feasibility study for five hydropower projects on in Karnali River. “We are considering about operating the projects based on production expenses. But we need to take into account the environmental, social and cultural costs before taking a call on building the projects,” he said.
Expert Shyam Krishna Upadhyay said most of the people presently wish to see the development of hydropower and it was necessary to inform the public about the final decision after holding discussions on the necessity at the expert level.
The topic of another session of the conference was ‘River and Development’. Upper Karnali Stakeholders Committee Coordinator Bam Bahdur BC said the dream of Karnali residents is development. He stressed that the project should be built under any circumstances. “We experienced the first taste of development after this road was built. We can’t let this project slip by that came after a long wait. But it is for the experts to give advice on how to reduce its impact,” he said.
Chairman of Ranijamara Kulariya Irrigation Project Consumers’ Committee, Damodar Khadka expressed his worry about the water availability in the downstream area after the Upper Karnali hydropower is built. “The people living downstream are worried if the Upper Karnlai hydro project would affect the irrigation project targeting to irrigate 40,000 hectares of land,” he said. Khadka demanded that there should discussion on the effect to the downstream if the project is built in the upper region.
The fifth session of the summit held discussions on governance, policy and practice related to river. During the session, former Vice Chairman of Achham District Development Committee Krishna Prasad Jaishi said there is lack of coordination between communities, local levels and federal provinces despite clear provision in the constitution about the use of natural resources like river. He reiterated that development is the first desire of the people.
Chirinjivi Bhattarai of Nepal River Conservation said the river should be used without any harm and destruction and should be handed over to the next generation. He stressed on the need to strictly enforce the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Youth Alliance for Environment Chairman Sanat Adhikari said, “We don’t have enough manpower who can do EIA and IEE (Initial Environment Examination). Unqualified people are doing the EIA in the name of experts.” He added that the EIA and IEE should be made available for and accessible to everyone.
There was a session titled ‘Future Scenario’ that aimed to understand the plans of people’s representatives in the development through the use of river. Putting forth his views at the session, former Irrigation Minister and Member of Parliament Sanjaya Gautam expressed his commitment for sustainable development. “Currently, our biggest challenge is to intensify development by protecting the environment. We should conserve our heritage and find a middle path for the development. But we can’t afford to stay in the status quo,” he said.
Karnali Province Member Jeevan Bahadur Shahi enunciated the formula of six ‘Ba’. Karnali Province Planning Commission member Yogendra Bahadur Shahi said the plans are being formulated to develop the province as organic and tourism province. “There are many barren land in Karnali. And they are turning into desert. We can cultivate appropriate crops and produce organic food,” he said.
Executive Director of Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists (NEFEJ), Subodh Gautam pointed out the mistakes made yesterday with regards to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Recalling the incidents of Narayani River, and Aandhi Khola, he drew the attention towards the negligence in river conservation. Talking about the proposed construction of Nijgadh International Airport in Bara district, Gautam criticized the government’s myopic development policy. He elucidated about the problems of excessive exploitation of Chure region and the unregulated extraction of riverbed materials. He wished that such problems would not occur in Karnali River and its catchment area and the journalists wouldn’t have to write about that.
Local representatives and general public from Dailekh and neighboring district Achham attended the summit held on the bank of Karnali River in Rakam, Dailekh. They were hopeful about the conference. “We are proud that the conference of national and international status was held in our locality. It was a huge opportunity for us to understand about the importance of river and its conservation,” said Khadgaraj Upadhyay, chief of Aathbish Municipality.
Tourism Minister of Karnali Province Nanda Singh Budha expressed his commitment to take ahead development plans by considering the historic, biological and economic importance of Karnali river. He said the development plan would be executed through coordination between three provinces as river is the common property of the provinces.
