Pokhara, July 17

After damages caused by floods in tourist hotels in Lakeside area, local tourism entrepreneurs have demanded long-term solution to the problem.

Floods and landslips triggered by incessant rainfall on July 1 caused significant damage to three hotels at Khahare, putting the residential area at risk.

Khahare Floods and Landslips Victims Group, Pokhara, Coordinator Ganeshraj Pahari said the landslips and floods had damaged Hotel Harmony, Hotel Santana and Hotel Lucky Inn at Khahare of Lekhnath-Pokhara Metropolitan City.

Pahari demanded that the government include Khahare area in its national plan and take steps to protect the disaster-prone locality. Recent floods and landslides have also affected restaurants, travel agencies and trekking agencies in the area, according to Pahari.

The group has demanded that the government repair the damaged infrastructure and make necessary arrangement for the victims.

Also, Khahare Tole Development Organisation, a local community body, has sought long-term solution to the problem.

Pahari said the debris left by floods and landslides had raised the water level in Khahare Khola that could obstruct the roads in Lakeside area. Pahari claimed that after the disaster, the area had been left without water supply and electricity and telephone services.

Floods and landslides have also put a local monastery with a 28-feet tall Buddha statue in peril, according to Baidam Tamang Society Chairman Jack Tamang.

He informed that his organisation had sought help from the Pokhara-Lekhnath Metropolis office to protect the Buddhist shrine from natural disasters. The monastery is currently under construction at a cost of Rs 7 million and is set to be inaugurated in five months.

The monastery has already become a tourist attraction, he added.

Western Regional Hotel Association, Pokhara, Chairperson Bikal Tulachan demanded that the government provide compensation to the victims and take measures to protect the area.