Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 31:

Nepal River Conservation Trust (NRCT) is organising the Bagmati River Festival from June 5 to August 25. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is promoting the event. This is the fourth year the festival is being organised. The festival is focused on raising awareness about the deteriorating condition of Bagmati river among the people of Kathmandu. The event also aims to strengthen and reinforce the participation of general public for the conservation of Bagmati river. A series of programmes are framed this year to celebrate the river festival, which includes clean up campaigns, tree plantations, heritage walk, rafting in Bagmati and other curricular activities, particularly designed to attract school students to participate in the event.

The festival is a platform for people from different sectors to take initiatives for the conservation of Bagmati river.

“Bagmati river holds religious value and has a potential of attracting cultural tourism. There is a need to strengthen ideas regarding the conservation of the river by making people aware about the degradation of the river and stop polluting the river individually,” said Megh Ale, president of NRCT. “The Bagmati river pollution has a chain effect over others which is distracting tourists,” said Subash Niraula, director at NTB.