December 18, 2020

Dr. Salina Shrestha and Ms. Shristi Shrestha participated in the 2^nd AIT-BNU virtual workshop on ‘Water, Health, and Ecosystems: Current Challenges and Opportunities’ in the technical session ‘Assessment in Water Quality and Ecosystem Degradation’ organized by Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Thailand and Beijing Normal University (BNU) China on 17 December 2020.

Dr. Salina Shrestha, Research & Program Coordinator, delivered a presentation on ‘WASH and Health in Sindhupalchowk District after Gorkha Earthquake’. The presentation highlighted that majority of the households were using unsafe water source for domestic purpose with faecal contamination at both source and point of use. The water quantity has been depleted at source after the earthquake. Very less households meet the WHO’s minimum water quantity requirement of 50 liters/capita/day and; families not meeting these standards were mostly found suffering from water-borne disease. Also, less water availability has impacted the safe water handling practice due to the lack of frequent cleaning of storage vessel. Earthquake affected the WASH situation and it could further increase vulnerability of the community people. In order to reduce the vulnerabilities, disaster management plan should prioritize and incorporate the WASH for developing disaster resilient society.

Ms. Shristi Shrestha, CREEW-YRF Research Fellow, delivered a presentation on ‘Trophic Status of Lake Clusters of Pokhara Valley (LCoPV): A Ramsar Site from Mid-hills Nepal’. The presentation highlighted that the trophic state index of six lakes viz. Gunde, Maidi, Khaste, Neurani, Kamalpokhari and Dipang were in the eutrohic state and the three lakes viz. Fewa, Begnas and Rupa were in the mesotrophic state in both the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons and; there was significant difference in the trophic state index for the lakes in both the seasons. The water parameters analyzed were Secchi depth, Total Phosphorous and Chlorophyll-a as per the Carlson Trophic State Index. Increasing human activity such as bathing, washing, agricultural run-off, sewage discharge and waste dumping were major pollution contributors of the lakes. However, it has found that lakes Fewa, Rupa and Begnas were relatively less polluted (eutrophied) as they are tourist attraction and are frequently cleaned by the concerned stakeholders. Enhancing the capacity of the lake management committees, strengthening coordination among the lake management committees and implementation of the Integrated Lake Basin Management Plan of Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley, Nepal (2018-2023) is the need. This study was carried out in 2019.