An avalanche in Annapurna mountain range and a sudden flood in the Seti River

Pokhara, Nepal

The death toll in Saturday's flashflood on the Seti river in Kaski district has gone up to 17, while the number of those missing has risen to 47.

Experts said the flash flood in the Seti River could be landslide induced rather than the result of avalanche or Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). “The debris in the river did not comprise boulders and moraine — associated with glaciers — so the cause was landslide as the water was very muddy,” said Pradeep Mool, glacier expert at International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Meteorological Forecasting Division said, it’s still unclear what induced the landslide. “It wasn’t an intense rainfall induced flood,” said Mandira Shrestha, water resource expert at ICIMOD. Initially, it was thought an ice avalanche had caused the flood, but later Nepali Army said the flood was due to landslide. 

फेवाताल जोगाउन अधिकारसम्पन्न प्राधिकरण आवश्यक

मनोज अधिकारी, पोखरा

मुलुकै आकर्षण फेवाताल वर्षेनी प्राकृतिक र मानवीय अतिक्रमणले साँघुरिंदै गएकाले सम्भावित लोप हुनबाट जोगाउन अधिकारसम्पन्न'ताल संरक्षण प्राधिकरण' बन्नुपर्ने माग उठेको छ। फेवातालको अतिक्रमणबारे सरकारीस्तरबाट छानबिन सुरु भएपछि सरोकारवालाहरुले छुटै प्राधिकरण स्थापना गरि संकटमा पर्न थालेको यस तालको संरक्षण र प्रवर्द्वन गर्न आग्रह गरेका हुन्। 

भू-क्षय र खोला-नाला बगेर आउने माटोले वर्षेनी तालको सयौं रोपनी क्षेत्रफल पुर्दै आएको छ। तालको पुरिएको भाग विभिन्न व्यक्तिले मालपोतमा दर्ता गरि अक्रिमण गर्ने क्रम बढ्दै गएपछि विज्ञहरुले फेवातालको आयु धेरै नभएको औंल्याउन थालेका छन्। 

सरकारद्वारा गठित'फेवाताल संरक्षण प्रवर्द्वन तथा विकासका लागि छानबिन समिति'समक्ष शनिबार विभिन्न सरोकारवालाले ताल संवेदनशील अवस्थामा पुगेको भन्दै चिन्ता व्यक्त गरे। मत्रिपरिषद्ले गत फागुन ४ गते विश्वप्रकाश लामिछानेको संयोजकत्वमा ५ सदस्यीय छानबिन समिति गठन गरेको हो। उक्त समितिले दुई महिनायता फेवाताल अतिक्रमणका सम्बन्धमा अध्ययन गरिरहेको छ। 

अध्ययनका क्रममा तालको हजारौं रोपनी क्षेत्रफल मानवीय अतिक्रमण परेको फेला परेको छ। तालको पानीमुनिको कपितय भाग मालपोतमा दर्ता गरि लालपूर्जा निकालेको समेत भेटिएको समितिले जनाएको छ। तालको मुख्य स्रोत हर्पन खोलाको नक्सा समेत नरहने गरि मालपोतमा दर्ता गरेर मिचिएको छानबिन समितिका संयोजक लामिछानेले जानकारी दिए।

Paid to be green in Nepal

Birganj, Nepal 

Eleven years ago, when 74 tons of a contraband gas used in refrigeration and air-conditioning were seized by customs at the Indo-Nepal border here, it was hailed internationally as a major victory in the campaign against smuggling of chemicals that destroy the Earth's protective ozone layer.

But no one thought of what to do with the nearly 900 cylinders of gas, and they have remained in a dusty and stuffy warehouse in Birganj since 2001. Now, after years of negotiations, the last of the chemicals will be shipped to the United States for destruction, and the entire process will be funded by carbon credits earned in removing a potent greenhouse gas.

Called CFC-12, the gas is not just banned by the Montreal Protocol because it is harmful to the ozone layer, it is also 10,900 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Nepal is a signatory to the Montreal Protocol and, as a developing country, was allowed to use some of the CFC until the complete ban went into force in 2010.

But there was still eight tons of the chemicals left, and Nepal's Bureau of Standards and Metrology, the California-based EOS Climate and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have joined forces to use the international carbon trading market to pay for the destruction.

Zero Poaching Year commemorated

The year 2011 was a landmark year for conservation in Nepal as not a single rhino was killed in the country across the year.

To mark this achievement the Government of Nepal, WWF and various conservation organizations celebrated Zero Poaching Year amidst a special program organized on 7 January 2012 at Chitwan National Park in Nepal’s Terai Arc Landscape. The program was organized to felicitate the key institutions whose unrelenting efforts in conservation helped bring about this success. 

“This success is attributed to the coordination among the Government of Nepal, conservation partners, local communities and most importantly security forces,” said Krishna Acharya, Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). 

"To combat poaching more effectively a separate body has been formed under DNPWC to deal specifically with wildlife and security inside the parks has been stepped up with the number of range posts gone up from 7 to 51," Acharya added. 

Green light to West Seti

A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources on Sunday approved the West Seti hydro project and gave it the green light.

Investigations carried out by the committee found that the MoU was signed without informing the Finance Ministry and that the Energy Ministry had hurriedly pushed through the deal with CTGC without a proper bidding process. Furthermore, the Nepal Investment Board (NIB) was excluded from the entire operation.

After these findings were made public, the committee instructed the Energy Ministry to make amendments in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) before moving ahead with the project.  The government has also been given 13-point recommendation to fix  procedural errors.