Water is being returned to Geruwa from Monday after the river has dried up

Every year on the first week of Chait, the water was returned to Geruwa, which flows through the western border of the park. This time, there has been a delay due to the lack of attention of the Irrigation Division Office and the Parks Department in the district.

From Chisapani Bridge, south from Lalmati to Karnali Bardiya and Kailali, it is divided into two Bhangala . Earlier, Geruwa flowing towards Bardiya was in the form of a big river. When there was plenty of water in Gerua, many species of fish and dolphins were seen. For seven years, the water in Geruwa has been decreasing .

Due to excessive excavation towards Kailali, the river deepened and started to flow a lot of water. As a result, the sand piled up towards Bardiya and became like a dam. Now the small patches inside the park including Geruwa are dry . Due to lack of water, Kakakul is leaving the wildlife park and entering India. Conservationists are worried as the natural water sources in the main habitat of wildlife are drying up.

In the budget of the current fiscal year, the government of Lumbini State allocated two crore rupees for emergency expenses to remove stones, gravel and sand from the estuary area of ​​Geruwa. The District Irrigation Division office had already signed a contract for the excavation of stones and gravel. The delay was caused by the park administration's reluctance to work without the mandate of the park department.

The outgoing Chief Minister of Lumbini Province, Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, said that the budget has been released for emergency expenses after the wildlife will be affected. "The money was sent as an emergency fund because there might be a delay," Chowdhury said. The decision made by the Provincial Council of Ministers was not supposed to stand still.' He expressed regret that the situation of wild animals being destroyed even after arranging the budget.

Hemant Acharya, President of Thakurbaba Intermediate Consumer Committee under Bardia Park, said that the park department had sent an order to return the water three days ago after the news was published that the wild animals were scattered due to lack of water.

"However, the Irrigation Division office did not facilitate the work by sending an engineer," he said. He said that the park staff and conservation stakeholders including Ashok Ram have reached Geruva's mouth and observed it. He said that since every year stones, gravel and sand accumulate in the estuary to form a natural dam, initiatives should be taken for a sustainable solution. "Where have so many fish and dolphins gone," he said.

The Water Resources and Irrigation Development Division has informed that a contract of Rs. The office said that one and a half months have passed while waiting for permission from the park department. Two months ago, the office received Rs 1 crore 95 lakh from the state government to remove the river sediments accumulated in Lalmatia of Geruwa river . Division Office Chief Krishna Bahadur Bik said that Himchuli Construction Service has awarded the contract for excavation in Lalmatia for about 94 lakh rupees, which is less than half of the total budget.

'We got permission from the park department to start the work . The work of removing the river material will be started from Monday, he said, due to the delay in the permit process of the National Parks Department, the excavation work has not proceeded.

Bardia National Park has been removing sand and gravel from Geruwa spring three times every year and releasing water. It has not been solved permanently. Every dry season there is a shortage of water . In the current year as well, the water was returned by excavating gravel-sand last October. Then the water was returned to Pus . After that, in the first week of March, the park said that it has become dry after not opening the water. The National Parks Department has sent a permission letter to remove river products, according to the park administration. Purushottam Wagle, assistant conservation officer of the park, said that since the department has approved, the removal of riverine material will be started.

He informed that the office has completed the necessary coordination and preparation for that. A joint team of Irrigation Division office and park staff reached Lalmati area on Sunday and completed a joint survey. It is estimated that there are about 90,000 cubic meters of stone in Lalmati. The Head of Irrigation Division Office said that JCV machine will be used in four places of Lalmati. Thakurbaba and Madhuvan municipalities have dried up after the water has dried up. Irrigation has become a problem in West Rajapur and Geruwa Rural Municipality. Zamansingh KC, president of Geruwa rural municipality, said that after the water dried up in Geruwa, tourism businessmen and farmers were killed.