POKHARA, Feb 16: A demarcation committee has prepared a report stating that the new area of Fewa Lake is 5.72 square kilometers (11,255 ropanis).
The Fewa Lake Demarcation and Mapping Committee coordinated by the then president of District Development Committee, Kaski, Punya Poudel has submitted the report with the new area to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Poudel, coordinator of the committee, said that the report showing the new area of 11,255 ropanis of Fewa Lake was submitted to Prime Minister Oli. “We have submitted a report to Prime Minister Oli specifying the demarcated area,” Poudel said. “The Cabinet will make a decision on the new area public.”
Fewa lake shrank from 10 to 4.2 sq km in 46 yrs
Earlier, the commission formed under the chairmanship of Bishwa Prakash Lamichhane, a former chairman of the Pokhara Valley Urban Development Committee, had stated that the area of Fewa Lake was 6.54 square kilometers (12,874 ropanis).
The commission in June, 2012 had submitted its report to the then Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai. According to Lamichhane, out of 12,874 ropanis, 9,955 ropanis were covered by water.
A study conducted by UNDP in 1981 had estimated the area of Fewa Lake as 5.8 square kilometers (11,400 ropanis). The area measured now is less than that of 1981. Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Man Bahadur GC, coordinator of the Demarcation Committee Poudel, Member Secretary Khimlal Gautam and other officials presented the report to Prime Minister Oli.
Member Secretary Gautam made a presentation on Fewa Lake to the prime minister. “We have determined the new area according to scientific criteria,” said a member of the committee. “The method we have used to measure the lake’s area is very scientific.”
According to the members of the committee, the area covered by water during the rainy season and the swampy land have also been included in the new area of the lake. “Swampy areas should also be maintained in the area of Phewa Lake,” he said. “The area is more than 11,000 ropanis at the moment.”
