Nepalgunj, December 27

Kanti Lake, which is located on the border of Wards No 21 and 22 of Nepalgunj sub-metropolis, has been developed as a tourist destination.

The lake is being conserved and beautified at the cost of around Rs 95 million with the support of the sub-metropolis, according to Mayor Dhawal Shumsher Rana. He said the work on lake conservation and its infrastructure development would be completed within 18 months.

The lake was known as ‘Puraina’ or ‘Puraini’ lake. However, the name was changed to Kanti by the sub-metropolis after it decided to develop the lake as a tourist destination. The lake lies 2.5 km east from Dhambojhi chowk of Nepalgunj. The lake spreads over 25 bigha area — 17 bigha in Ward 22 of Puraini and eight bigha in Ward 21 of Puraina. In the past, water in the lake had been used for irrigation and later the lake was leased out for fish farming.

Of late, the sub-metropolis has floated a plan to develop the lake as a tourist destination. “Some three decades ago the lake area was popular as habitat for elephants. Various species of birds were spotted in the lake area.