BHARATPUR: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabidra Adhikari has stated that the Bharatpur Airport would be upgraded soon.
Speaking at a program in Bharatpur, Minister Adhikari said most of the airports in the country were being upgraded. He also informed that Bharatpur Airport will soon begin night flight as well.
KATHMANDU: A team of tourism entrepreneurs from Pokhara are all set to commence a tourism promotion tour to the Northeast of India from February 5 to 10 this year. The team comprising Tourism Board (NTB) officials and Pokhara Tourism Council (PTC) executives were scheduled to visit Siliguri and Guhawati among other places.
The visit is taking place in line with the MoU that was signed between the Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators Association, and Pokhara Tourism Council (PTC) some five years ago to promote the tourism of Pokhara and Northeast India at the initiative of Nepal Tourism Board.
PTC President Chiranjivi Pokharel shared the Nepali tourism entrepreneurs would be taking part in various tourism promotion activities during their visit to lure a large number of Indian tourists to Nepal. Pokharel was of the view that the visit would contribute in attracting and retaining the Indian tourists in Nepal.
Thousands of Indian tourists from Siliguri, Dooars, Gangtok, Darjeeling, Manipur, West Bangle, Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Mizoram reach to Nepal via Kakadbhitta especially to visit shrines like Pashupanti Nath and Mukti Nath, according to him. The Pokhara’s entrepreneurs will also take part in Bengal Travel Mart where a press conference will be held, shared NATTA Western Region Association’s First Vice-President Sanjaya Kanta Sigdel.
GALESHWOR: The aquatic creatures in the rivers and streams of Narchyang of Annapurna Rural Municipality-4 in Myagdi district have faced extinction threat in the recent time. According to locals, the aquatic animals in the rivers lack safe habitat following the ongoing construction works of hydropower projects and environmental imbalance in Narchyang along the Annapurna Trekking Route.
Different species of fish, crabs, worms and other water animals are gradually vanishing in the rivers in the recent years, the locals shared. The local residents further shared that the quality of arable land on the banks of rivers has also degraded due to environmental imbalance caused due to the extinction of the aquatic and other creatures.
The rivers and forests around Narchyang are regarded as the safe habitat for aquatic and wild animals. But, the ongoing development work for large number of hydropower projects in the rivers here has left the creatures on the verge of crisis, said Shiva Purja, an official working with environment unit of Mistrikhola Hydropower Project.
Currently, five hydel projects of 157 megawatt are under construction in Narchyang and the rivers here are the major source of water for those hydel projects. Ward Chairman of Annapurna Rural Municipality-4 Chandra Prasad Phagami said that the different types of water animals, butterflies, plants and birds have gradually vanished from the sites with the construction of hydropower projects.
Phagami said that though the hydropower projects have created job opportunities to the local residents here, they are unhappy with the degradation of natural heritages despite physical gains.
CHITWAN: The 13th Sauraha food festival is being held this year from coming February 11 to 15. The festival is organized by the Restaurant and Bar Association Nepal (REBAN) with the objective of promoting tourism and also supporting education of children from poor families. Ten per cent of the income from the event will be used to set up an education fund for the education of poor children inward nos 5, 6 and 7 of Ratnanagar municipality, according to the festival coordinator Dhruva Giri.
The event will be held at the Sisuwar ground in Ratnanagar municipality-7 with ‘Natural beauty the special feature of Chitwan Sauraha’ as the main slogan. The festival is also expected to help enhance the quality of food item while promoting Sauraha as the major destination in Nepal for both domestic and foreign tourists, added Giri.
MYAGDI: The rare ‘loderi’ variety of rhododendron has been found growing n the forests at Narchyang in Annapurna rural municipality-4 of northern Myagdi.
Rural municipality, ward number 4 chairman Chandra Prasad Phagami said that this variety of rhododendron, considered very rare in the world, has been found in the forests at Jagarghari, Khaniban and Humkala along the way leading to the Nilgiri-Annapurna mountain base camp.
According to him, the loderi variety of rhododendron was discovered by the environment team of the Mistri Khola Hydropower Project while carrying out a research. Environment scientists Kul Prasad Limbu and Kamal Maden confirmed that it was the loderi variety of rhododendron.
It is found more in the Humkala forest, said Shiva Purja of the Project who was involved in the project’s environment team. Purja said the loderi species of rhododendron grows at an altitude above 4,000 metres from the sea level.
According to him, this variety of rhododendron was not found even in the forests in the alpine region of Mustang and Manang, but has been found in the forest at Narchyang which is at lower altitude than the alpine regions of Mustang and Manang. This has baffled even the environment scientists, he added.
The loderi variety rhododendron plant is only around five centimeters tall. The flower is a mixture of yellow and pink and is very small in size.
Ward chair Phagami said his office would initiate for the conservation of this rare species of rhododendron.
Doti: Despite nearly one year delay in starting the blacktop works of the Dipayal Airport, the task has grasped rapid speed lately. The construction company, Sapana JV Construction Company, said that the development of the runway is in the final stage.
According to the company, development of drainage and the task of fencing around the airport were already completed adding that only the job of blacktop is left to do. The company has also promised to finish the task of blacktop within a month. The construction company was awarded the project in Rs 60 million to carry out the recent works of maintenance.
Ward Chairman of Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality-2 Rajendra Khadka said that the construction works should have been completed earlier but the local residents are elated with the recent progress though it was delayed. Flight at Dipayal airport has not taken place for nearly one and a half decades due to the sorry state of the physical infrastructure of the airport.
With the recent progress, the locals and business community are elated hoping for more services and business promotion.
General Secretary of Doti Chamber of Commerce and Industries Dipak Bahadur Khadka said that service resumption in the airport would result in improved connectivity to the people from other hilly districts of far west while expecting boost up in the region’s tourism business.
However, the District Administration Office took the initiative to remove the snow piled up in the Simkot airport. According to Assistant Chief District Officer Mahesh Kumar Pokharel, they have continued the task of snow removal from the airport as disruption of flight service directly caused inconvenience to send the ailing people outside the district for treatment. Nepal police together with Nepal Army and Armed Police have concentrated their efforts to clear the snow from the airport.
LONDON: Baldwin Street in Dunedin, on New Zealand’s south island, has a confirmed gradient of 35% at its steepest but residents of Harlech say their challenger, Ffordd Pen Llech, is steeper at 36%.
But it isn’t just about the gradient – a street must also have houses, be a public thoroughfare and be paved to be eligible for the title. Having passed those tests, however, Harlech residents have sent measurements to Guinness World Records to see if they can claim the title. The Kiwis aren’t impressed at the idea they could lose their world record.
“Whatever happens, this has been brilliant for Harlech and we’re proud of our little lane.”
Galeshwor: Efforts are underway to protect a rare species of snake called ‘king cobra’ found in the Koshepani forest at Ghatan of Beni municipality-9. The spot of the rare species of reptile has drawn a growing number of visitors to take its glimpse.
Side by a side, the Road Division Forest Office held an extensive interaction on public awareness for the protection of animal with the participation of locals. The office decided to take an intervention for its conservation after some people tried to chase away the reptile by setting fire.
Students and teachers of Rastriya Secondary School, people’ representatives and locals were imparted information and knowledge about the ecological importance of snake and the ways for its conservation. The awareness programme was facilitated by Chairman of Snake Conservation Society Nepal Mahendra Prasad Katila, Division Forest Office assistant forest officer Bimala Lamsal and Division Forest Officer Harish Chandra Sapkota.
Zoologist and teacher at Tribhuvan Multiple Campus Palpa, Keshab Chokhal, first spotted the cobra king in the Koshepani forest. According to him, one of the rarest in Nepal, the king Cobra, was seen in the mid hilly areas of late. Efforts from the government and community levels are needed to protect it, he asserted. In Nepali, it is known as Kalinag or ‘Rajnag’.
Snake expert and research officer at Himalayan Nature Jiban Thapa confirmed the found snake as the king cobra. The snake, listed in the IUCN Red List of threatened species, is protected by Nepal’s law.
King cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah) which is commonly found in Tarai and protected areas, is lately migrating to mid-hilly areas largely due to climate change, said Chokhal. The snake is found in 16 countries of South Asia and South East Asia. The snake, which preys on the snakes of the species, is rarely found elsewhere except in Thailand forests, said Thapa.
KATHMANDU: Flights schedule at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), country’s sole international airport, which was affected this morning due to adverse weather, has come back to normalcy.
Flights to and from the airport were disrupted for around three hours due to low visibility triggered by thick fog in the Kathmandu Valley.
The situation has turned to be normal with the improvement in weather, said TIA General Manager Raj Kumar Chhetri.
The lowest level of visibility was measured just only 100-200 meter. It reached to 1,600 meter at around 8:00 am and it came to 1,000 meter at 9:00 am.
For the take-off of international flights, 800 meter visibility is good enough but for the arrival flights, 1,600-3,200 meter is imperative for all sorts of aircrafts ranging from narrow to wide-body.
Similarly, in case of domestic flights, 1,600 meter visibility is needed for narrow-body aircraft.
Presently, 20 air service providing companies including 10 helicopters operate their services while 29 companies including three domestic ones are available for international flights services at TIA. (RSS)