Click to play videoPokhara (Nepal): Thousands of Indian tourists are familiar with Nepal's stunning Pokhara Valley. It was formed 12,000 years ago after a Himalayan glacier melted away. But what tourists may not know is that today it faces its worst ever environmental crisis.
Pokhara's pride, Nepal's second largest lake is dying and may well disappear altogether within the next 100 years. Locals lovingly call Phewa - Pokhara's necklace.
The boatman in Pokhara says he no longer drinks the water his father used to drink. In fact, he doesn't even step into the water if he can help it.
Even the local government admits to hotels and restaurants on the lake's edge being the biggest polluters.
Pokhara Town Development Committee member Kishan Singh Gurung says, “People dump garbage at night, during rains, it goes into the lake. So it’s obvious the lake will be polluted.”
The storm water drain made from money given by the Asian Development Bank is proof of that it takes all of Pokhra's waste and dumps it into the lake.
Worse, up to half of Phewa may have actually disappeared over the last 70 years eaten away by unchecked silting from the nearby hills and by these weeds giving way to encroachers.
But atleast one local has had enough pleading with the court to intervene and save Phewa.
Lawyer Bishwa Ghimire said, “The government's top priority must be to determine the lake area.”
Giving Phewa legal rights over its own area is the obvious starting point. But civic sense and effective governance will have to kick in if their kids want to enjoy the lake as well.
This is one man's battle to save this lake from dying and he hopes it become a popular movement - not just for the lake and locals, but also for Pokhra's own reputation.
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