DEATH TOLL IN DAILEKH VIRAL FEVER INCREAES TO SIX Kathmandu, 2 Sept. Dailekh death toll in viral fever has increased to six. One three-year-old died overnight. Nnnnn MANPOWER AGENCIES OBSERVE SATURDAY AS A BLACK DAY Kathmandu, 2 Sept.: Manpower representatives said they haven’t been compensated Rs.750 million is losses when nearly 97agencies in the capital were vandalized exactly eight years Saturday. Agencies call the day a black day. Twelve Nepali workers were killed by terrorists in Iraq of bounds for Nepalis. Nnnn . PM BHATTARAI SAYS HE TOLD UN CHIEF THERE WAS CONSENSUS ON TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION Kathmandu, 2 Sept.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has said holding the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections to write the new constitution is the first priority of the government, The Kathmandu Post writes.. Upon his return from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran on Saturday night, the PM said the assembly dissolved in May 27 could be reinstated as a second option if there is an agreement between the parties. Bhattarai said he briefed the efforts aimed to forge political consensus on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon on the sidelines of the two-day summit. “Both Indian prime minister and the UN Secretary General expressed concern over political situation of Nepal. I told them that drafting the constitution through the Constituent Assembly is our bottom line,” Bhattarai told reporters. The PM said he held discussion with Indian PM Singh on bilateral issues, mainly guaranteeing Indian investment in Nepal and purchasing 200 MW electricity from the southern neighbour. He said the government would soon carry out power development agreement (PDA) of India-invested projects, including Arun, Karnali and Marshyangdi. Discussions with the UN Secretary General focused on peace process, however, no discussions took place regarding government’s effort to form transitional justice mechanisms through ordinances, said Bhattarai. The UN and the international community have expressed concern over the proposed ordinance, saying that the provisions in it could undermine the victims’ access to justice. Bhattarai, however, defended the ordinance saying that there was already a political consensus on its contents. “We are trying to follow the South African model by focusing on reconciliation,” he said. Bhattarai said that he had fruitful discussion with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the visit. Iran has accepted a request to supply Nepal with petroleum products and positively responded to explore the possibility to link the pipelines being constructed for India and China to Nepal, according to Bhattarai. The PM said Bangladesh is very keen on investing in the hydropower sector. nnnn DOLPHINS NEARLY EXTINCT IN KARNALI RIVER Kathmandu, 2 Sept.: If the alarming disappearance rate of one every two years continues, the Ganges River Dolphin may be extinct by the end of this year in the Karnali river system, suggests a new research, The Kathmandu Post writes.. The findings of a field-based study, “Factor assessment of the Ganges River Dolphin, Platanista gangetica, movement in the Karnali River System of Nepal”, by young researcher Shambhu Paudel states that the population distribution and its range has been declining by 0.495 and 1.165 kilometre, respectively, every year since 1982. Paudel, a Masters level student of Wildlife Ecology at Tribhuvan University, carried out the research in the Karnali river and its tributaries, namely the Mohana and Geruwa, in two phases last winter. During the period, a maximum of four individual dolphins were recorded as dominantly resident populations along the mainstream Karnali. No dolphins were recorded in the river’s feeder system, Mohana and Geruwa. The first dolphin distribution study conducted in 1982 by T B Shrestha put the total number at 24 but numbers continued to dwindle to 20 in 1989 and 7 in 1994. “My conclusion is based on the data on dolphin distribution in Karnali River and its tributaries for the last 13 years,” said Paudel. “Due to the disturbance of their habitat and other ecological factors, including a decrease in prey and the depth of flowing water, the dolphins will no longer be found in the Karnali river.” According to Paudel, either the dolphins will face complete extinction or move into the Indian river system. Dolphins were also recorded in the Koshi, Mahakali and Narayani rivers about 30 years ago but at present, their sightings are limited to the Koshi and the Karnali. The study provides the first published data on the status of hydro-ecological factors including the depth and width of the river system and habitat and riparian types responsible for the distribution and habitat use of the dolphin in Karnali river system during the winter, said Paudel. This is also the first scientific research on dolphins in Nepal carried out through the use of acoustic sensors, which provides their realistic number in the rivers. “Pollution in the river during the summer due to floods and a decrease in water flow during winters, along with a significant depletion of prey due to intensive fishing, change in land use and habitat fragmentation, are threatening the existence of dolphins in the Karnali river system,” said Paudel. The study also found that the Mohana river was more polluted than the Geruwa and the Karnali, with a greater amount of ammonia and phosphates. Similarly, the depth of water was found to have decreased to around 2.2 metres, below the essential three to five metres. Maheshwor Dhakal, under-secretary and ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), said that the distribution of dolphins, along with other important species particularly gharials (Gavialis gangeticus), was found to be significantly low in the Karnali for years. However, neither the government nor other concerned partners have yet paid adequate attention to the regular monitoring of the dolphins or conducted any study on their habit and habitation. Mega species like rhinos, tigers and elephants draw great attention from authorities while other equally important freshwater species have failed to garner such attention, said Dhakal. There is an urgent need of trans-boundary initiatives from the DNPWC with their Indian counterparts regarding threats to habitat and preservation due to the construction of dams such as the Kailashpuri along the Nepal-India border, according to Paudel. “There is a need to initiate a community-based habitat restoration project focussed on multiple species, like the dolphin, gharial and other small fish, to preserve the existing freshwater ecosystem of the Karnali river system.” Nnnn