The view of Fewa Lake.
Pokhara is one of the most popular tourist destinations of Nepal and my favourite place of all times. It is a kind of place that makes you forget all your troubles and mesmerizes you with its unparalleled natural beauty. And no visit to Pokhara is complete without a boating trip on the amazing Fewa Lake. Most of the people visiting Pokhara definitely take the wooden boat and enjoy the beauty of this fresh water lake – the second largest in Nepal. Though not highly risky activity in itself, quite a number of people have lost their lives by drowning while boating in Fewa – an occurrence which could have been easily avoided.
The weather in Pokhara is unpredictable and changes drastically during afternoon. Powerful wind starts blowing, making the boats unstable and filling it up with water. People who have gone to the farther corners of the lake find it hard to come back to the shore in time; at times causing them their lives. The lake stretching into the corners of the hills makes it hard for the rescue team to reach the needful on time.
Sub-inspector Padam Pandey at the view tower.
But according to sub-inspector Padam Pandey, things have changed for better now. “Going for rescue has been much easier after the establishment of the danger alert system and the construction of the view tower. We blow the danger siren as soon as we feel like the weather patterns are getting dangerous. The boats rush back to the shore when they hear the siren,” he says. Sub-inspector Pandey is a part of the rescue team under the Armed Police Force’s disaster risk reduction unit, currently posted at Pokhara.
The view tower constructed on the shore of the Fewa Lake is a part of the Building Disaster Resilient Communities in Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan (BDRC) project. It is a DFID Nepal funded consortium project of Practical Action and Action Aid with local partners Siddhartha Club and Community Support Group. The project has been conducting various activities to build the capacity of communities to respond and prepare for disasters – the view tower is just a small part of it all.
Sub-inspector Pandey seemed very enthusiastic to be able to work from the view tower.
“We can have a wide range of view from the tower. We also use binoculars to spot appropriately. As soon as we see that someone is in danger, we rush out for rescue. In the past, it was difficult to locate where exactly the people were. Sometimes, we used to reach the place a bit too late. Now, it has become easier to save lives.”
He further adds, “I never thought that a tower could make so much difference! It has made our work so much easier and effective.”
I will definitely feel safer while boating around the Fewa Lake next time I visit Pokhara, all thanks to BDRC and brave life savers such as sub-inspector Pandey.
The view tower constructed with support from BDRC project
(Find a news about the life saving rescue work in this link – http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=73116)