Sutaiya Lake developing into a tourism destination

BANKE, Oct 15:The Sutaiya Lake in Baijanath rural municipality-3 of Banke district is developing into a new destination for domestic tourists. 

This lake is situated around six kilometres north of Kohalpur town and nearby the Ratna highway leading to Surkhet. It is naturally beautiful and an ideal place for picnickers, wildlife watching, bird watching and strolling around. Surrounded by forest, it offers an enjoyable short forest safari as well.

Spread over seven hectares area, the lake and its surroundings offer an idyllic place for an enjoyable day's outing. The local Deurali Janaashrit Buffer Community Forest Users' Group has been taking the responsibility for the conservation and promotion of the lake since the last one decade.  

Mahendra Tharu, the former president of the Group, said that this lake has been the choice for the domestic tourists of late. "This lake that is on the lap of Banke National Park is naturally beautiful and it is equally important for wildlife observation. The wild animals come to the lake to drink water and one can see the Royal Bengal Tiger, deer, boar and other animals here," he said. 

According to Tharu, although there is immense opportunity of conducting many eco-tourism activities while at the same time conserving the lake ecosystem, which has not made headway due to paucity of funds. 

Baijanath rural municipality chairperson Prakash Bahadur Shahi said the local government is serious about developing the lake as a major tourism destination and therefore it has been each year allocating some budget for this purpose.

He shared that the local government has developed a plan for constructing embankment around the lake for its conservation. The rural municipality Chair sought the support of the provincial and the federal government for the construction of additional tourism facilities in the area.

"It would be a good source of income to the locals as well as the local government if eco-tourism activities could be further promoted by constructing the required infrastructures here, but we are not able to make large investment due to the paucity of financial resources. Therefore, the province and federal governments too should chip in our endeavours," he emphasized.