Tourism Minister visits Barat Lake in Sarlahi (Photo: Janardan Pokharel/Nepalkhabar)
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kiranti, who came to Sarlahi, visited the local 'Bharat Lake' on Sunday. He took a Jet Boat ride along with the common people and took a trip to the lake.
Bharat Lake, which spreads over 121 bighas of land in Bagmati Municipality-12, has now become a destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
Tourism Minister Kiranti, who came to participate in the event of the Federation of Nepalese Indigenous Journalists (FONIJ) held at Hariwan in Sarlahi on Sunday, visited Bharat Lake at the request of the Deputy Mayor of Bagmati Municipality Leela Kumari Moktan.
Earlier, former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, then Chief Minister of Bagmati Province Rajendra Pandey, then Chief Minister of Madhesh Province Lal Babu Raut, then Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Krishna Chandra Pokharel and other high-ranking people have visited this lake.
Bagmati Municipality has not named the lake yet. However, this lake is popularly known as 'Bharat Lake' in the country and abroad.
It was built under the leadership of Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, Bharat Kumar Thapa, so the common people called it Bharat Lake.
Mayor Thapa was not in town when the minister reached Kiranti. He is currently in Kathmandu for health treatment.
Deputy Mayor Moktan, chief administrative officer Bimal Pokharel, youth leader of Maoist center Sandesh Shrestha and others sat in the boat and awarded the certificate to Minister Kiranti on behalf of the municipality.
They also visited the lake with Minister Kiranti, narrating the story of the construction of the lake.
The construction of this lake, which was started four years ago, has not yet been completed. So far 600 million rupees have been spent on the construction of the lake. However, the lake is still under construction. The municipality has started receiving income from this lake since two years ago.
Deputy Mayor Leela Moktan informed that the town is now earning at least 500,000 rupees monthly from the lake. Because of the lake, thousands of people have got employment opportunities. Convenient hotels and lodges have opened around the lake.
Today, thousands of tourists visit this lake every day. They enjoy boating. Recently, this lake has also become a meeting place for young people.
Nepal Police, Armed Police and Nepali Army have taken diver training in this lake many times.
While visiting the lake, Minister Kiranti asked people to pay attention to the safety of passengers while operating the boat. "Life jackets should be made mandatory when boarding a boat", he said, "Insurance arrangements should also be made mandatory for passengers boarding the boat."
He assured that if the municipality wants, the ministry will arrange free training on tourism promotion.
"An organization called Natham provides training in this matter", he said, "If you want, I will arrange free training."
Bimal Pokharel, Chief Administrative Officer of Bagmati Municipality informed that up to one lakh tourists come to visit the lake every month. Apart from the natives, the lake is visited especially by Indian tourists.
There are currently 31 boats operating on the lake. The boat ride fee ranges from 300 to 1,000 rupees per person. Businessmen have determined the fees according to the facilities and level of the boat. Businessmen pay 20 percent of the income to the municipality.
"After the lake came into operation, besides increasing the source of income of the municipality, the environmental balance has also been maintained", said Pokharel, "because of the lake, the underground water recharge system has improved. The wells around the lakes, which were dried up in the past, have now started getting water.
Millions of fish are currently growing in the lake. The fish are up to 6/7 kg. Siberian cranes have also started coming into the lake. This has made the lake more attractive. The water extracted from the lake is being irrigated in the fields of the locals.
Minister Kiranti praised the local people's representative saying that the municipality has done an exemplary job by building a lake with the aim of utilizing the water that is being wasted in the Bagmati River.
"It seems that Bagmati Municipality is trying to increase the source of income by mobilizing its local resources/instruments", he said, "Our other local levels can also learn a lot from this work of Bagmati Municipality. I believe that this will benefit the country."
He expressed the belief that foreign tourists who come to see Mount Everest and Rara Lake will now also visit Bharat Lake.
