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CFC TENURE EXTENDED BY ONE WEEK
Kathmandu, 4 Aug.: The government, on Saturday extended the term of the Constituency Delineation Commission (CDC) for a week, RSS reports..

After its term expired today, it has been given a week more for the completion of the work, said Rajuman Singh Malla, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to the Rastriya Samachara Samiti.

Earlier, the government had extended the CDC tenure for 10 days in view of providing time to conclude the remaining task.
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AUTHOROITIES WORRIED BY SHRINKING RARA
Kathmandu, 4 Aug.: The Rara Lake has started shrinking due to siltation. The Rara National Park Office is worried and has started looking for options to save the lake.
 RSS reports from Mugu. .

The Rara Lake and the surrounding national park in Mugu district is a prime tourist destination known for its idyllic environment and mesmerising natural beauty.

It is said that there are 34 brooks that open into the lake and of them 10 streams are perennial. According to the park office, the remaining 24 brooks are seasonal in nature and bring with them a lot of sediment during the rainy season and deposit it in the lake. Soil conservationists at the park office say that the surface of the lake is rising due to the deposition of sand, silt and other materials on the lake’s bottom. This has led to the expansion of the lake’s width and there are chances that the lake might burst if the process is not checked on time.

The lake covers an area of 10.65 square metres and it is 167 metres deep. Chief of the Rara National Park Office Bhogendra Rayamajhi said that the rising surface level of the lake due to siltation is a matter of great concern.

He added that this problem is aggravated due to grazing by cattle on the banks of the lake. Rayamajhi said that although the park office has adopted some measures pro tem like planting nigalo plants around the numerous brooks that empty into the lake, they are far too inadequate compared to the growing siltation.

The nigalo plants are said to work as filters stopping the sand and silt from reaching the lake. In this connection, the park office planted 350 nigalo saplings around two streams.

The lake is also facing risk due to the rapid deforestation that is taking place towards the eastern coast of the lake in the Seri Malika Buffer Zone Forest Area. Conservationists have suggested carrying out massive afforestation around the buffer zone, establishing security posts in areas where there is much illegal tree felling and poaching and stopping cattle grazing in the park to protect the country’s largest lake.
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