KATHMANDU: Bagmati Eco Challenge, a major event of this year’s Bagmati River Festival, is scheduled to commence on August 13. “We are working enthusiastically to make the event a success,” said Mausam Khanal, a staffer with Nepal River Conservation Trust. NRCT first held the BRF in 2001 with the objective of creating public awareness about the holy river. The festival started on June 5 this year. “I have spent almost all my productive years working on the river. I was compelled to take this initiative since my foreign friends always commented about Bagmati,” said Megh Ale, president, NRCT. A reputed international rafting river guide, Ale is among the first to have taken up the river’s cause. He added, “Bagmati River is the first to catch a tourist’s eye, leaving a bad impression about the country.” The Eco Challenge includes a 13.5 km race from Chobhar’s Jalbinayak to Balaju, 21 km cycling from Balaju to Sundarijal and rafting on the 7 km river stretch from Sundarijal to Uttar Bahini in Gokarna.