Nepal National Water and Weather Week 2018 has kicked off today (17 March, 2018) with walkathon program which was started from Maitighar Mandala, Thapathali, Kathmandu at 7:00 am and headed towards Jawalakhel, Lalitpur. The programme was followed by opening ceremony in the hall of Department of Irrigation, Jawalkhel, Lalitpur and in the presence of Honorable Minister Mr. Lal Babu Pandit as the Chief Guest. Secretaries, DGs, Joint Secretaries from Ministry of Water Resources, Energy and Irrigation, WECS, Department of Irrigation, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, and distinguished guests took part on the opening programme. The participants from INGOs, NGOs such as ICIMOD, Practical Action, IWMI, CREW, SOHAM, SOM and students in large numbers gathered together in a number greater than hundreds to celebrate the programme.
During the remarks session of the opening ceremony, the distinguished guests have raised the emerging issues related to conservation of water and management for livelihood of the earth. The Director General Dr. Rishi Ram Sharma from DHM urged the role of climate and human intervention for the sustainable and long term availability of water and asked the relevant ministries and actors to work effectively in the direction of conservation of water. The honorable minister Mr. Lal Babu Pandit added to value the work which is country based and social based for the benefit of people giving example and experience of himself related to water issues. He urged for recharging of water and conservation of water working in the urban rivers with effective engineering approach. The ex-minister Dr. Dipak Gyawali also highlighted 4 key area where the water projects has to be intervened for Eco friendly water conservation in Nepal. Dr. Ramesh Prasad Singh, secretary of WECS summed up the program and formally closed the ceremony by initiating the privilege to be provided to the technical sector by the politicians and administration units for the change to be seen in the water management.
