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From February 2006 ECCA has launched Kathmandu Participatory River Monitoring (KAPRIMO) – A Model for South Asia project in partnership with Adelphi Research GmbH (Germany) and International Institute of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) Netherlands. This European Union supported 2-year project aims to improve environmental quality and standards (with a positive effect on living and health conditions of the Nepalese population), to reach an increased awareness of the environment among the relevant stakeholder groups, to develop existing capacities of authorities/governmental agencies and train other stakeholders in the field of environmental monitoring and to encourage follow-up activities inspired by Asian and EU best practices.
International Symposium
KAPRIMO, in partnership with Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office (KMC) and Lalitpur Sub Metropolitan City Office (LSMC), organized an International Symposium on Community-led Management of River Environment in Kathmandu on 26 and 27 August 2007. The symposium was taken as the starting point for the river restoration process; sharing and learning from experiences and successful river restoration methods from Europe and Asia . The program was inaugurated by Chief and Executive Officer of KMC, Mr. Dinesh Thapaliya, together with Mr. Prachet Shrestha, Chairman of ECCA-Nepal; Mr. Rainer Mutschler, KAPRIMO Project coordinator from Adelphi Research-Germany; Mr. Krishna Prasad Devkota, Chief and Executive Officer of LSMC and Mr. Ranjan Shrestha, Project Director of European Commission.
The theme of symposium was divided into three subtopics viz: Linking environmental monitoring and urban planning; Potential improvement measures / technologies for urban agglomerations; and Watershed management . In all, thirteen papers were presented in the two-days symposium.
The symposium provided exchange of experiences and knowledge on a wider scale and has kicked-off the planning process to finally improve the quality of rivers in Nepal . Linkages have also been developed between Nepalese officials and representatives from EU and Asia .
In addition, on 29 th August 2007, a half day workshop was organized on THE ORGANIZATION OF WATER POLLUTION SURVEY by Dr. APPAN, Hydrochem(S) Pte. LTD., Singapore , especially for Nepalese authorities and interested institutions.
World Water Day - March 22, 2007
On the occasion of World Water Day 2007, “Walk for Bagmati” program was organized by ECCA in partnership with Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC). The objective was to create awareness on developing vision on Bagmati River . The Walk started in small groups from Shankhamul Ghat (along the bank of Bagmati River ) which was joined by more than 900 stakeholders representing schools, local clubs, different organizations and women groups of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City . The Walk ended at Thapathali Bridge which was then followed by Interaction Program. Mr. Prem Raj Joshi, CEO of LSMC office, Mr. Sohan Sunder Shrestha, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Physical Planning and Work, Mr. Pradeep Amatya, Chief-Environment Section of LSMC, Mr. Murali Ranjit, Engineer of Dolidar and other guests joined in the interaction and shared the vision on the Bagmati River . Mr. Yogendra Chitrakar, Director, ECCA presented the objective of Water Day Program and explained the importance of local participation in the Bagmati River conservation. Photo exhibition was also held at Kupandol, Bagmati Bridge .
World Water Day - March 22, 2006
ECCA organized walkathon along Bagmati river from Sankhamul to Thapathali bridge and photo exhibition (on previous and present state of Bagmati river, various techniques on river conservation) in the Thapathali Bagmati bridge (in the Kopundol side).
There was participation of Municipality, college students, ward chairman, government officials, media people, ECCA counsellors and volunteers and others in the walkathon (which was held in the morning from 8:00 am - 10:00 am). In the beginning, the group was oriented by Mr. Anil Chitrakar and Mr. Huta Ram Baidya (the pioneer in Bagmati conservation effort) in Sankhamul. The walkathon was also led by Mr. Baidya. The photograph exhibition was a collection of photographs starting from 125 years ago till the present state of Bagmati river and various techniques available for river conservation. The exhibition - which was kept the whole day - was visited by thousands of people. It was seen that even the passers in the car stopped their vehicle and came to see the exhibition.
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Bagmati river &Thapathali Durbar in mid 1880s |
Clean up in the bank of bagmati |
Photo Exhibition in Thapathali Bridge |
Photo Exhibition in Thapathali Bridge |
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Walkthon |
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