"People have started describing Koshi River as sorrow of Tarai districts lately. But we can make it a river of prosperity for Nepal," he said at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on natural resources and means, adding, "An integrated plan is needed to make Koshi a river of joy."
He said India is positive on moving ahead with a long-term plan. "We have proposed India to jointly conduct further study on Koshi and they are ready for it," the prime minister said while responding to queries fielded by lawmakers.
According to him, during his recent India visit, emphasis was laid on regular maintenance and inspection to avoid disasters similar to that occurred last year due to floods in Koshi.
Lawmakers´ feedbacks
Members of the committee Laxman Ghimire, Chandradev Joshi, Prithivi Subba Gurung, Gagan Thapa, Shiva Raj Gautam, Nandan Kumar Dutta and Abhishek Pratap Sah gave feedback to the government. They said heaps of silt upstream the barrage and along the west bank of the river was a major cause of flood disasters. The river is tilted to the eastern side due to over piling up of silt mainly along the west bank of the river. Koshi had breached its east embankment in August last year. Silt accumulation from Koshi River is said to be one of the highest in the world.
They said Nepali officials should be allowed to inspect the work in Koshi barrage and embankment. They suggested that certificate of completion of work at the site should be issued only after joint inspection by the officials of the two governments.
The lawmakers also suggested forming an effective mechanism to implement the bilateral agreements on the site. The entire responsibility of operating and maintaining the Koshi barrage and embankment (up to 35 kilometers upstream the barrage) falls on the Indian government as per the Koshi treaty.
thira@myrepublica.com
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