Foreword
World Water Day is being celebrated in Nepal as a National Water Week ever since 2009. Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) of the Government of Nepal has been coordinating the week long activities from the beginning with its Secretary as a Chair of the Organizing Committee. The Nepal National Committee for IHP (International Hydrological Program), UNESCO has been the initiator of the umbrella organizing committee and is actively involved in all activities as a Co-Chair of the National Water-Week Organizing Committee.
The Nepal National Water Week (NNWW) is a joint program of Government of Nepal, INGOs, NGOs, civil societies, professional organizations, business houses, academic institutions and youth organizations to commemorate the World Water Day (March 22) and World Meteorological Day (March 23) with a week long program. The objective of the Nepal National Water Week in general is to focus and make aware and sensitize politicians, policy makers, development planners, bureaucrats, environmentalists, researchers, advocacy groups, teachers, students and the society as a whole on the impact of rapid population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on water systems.
Nepal National Water Week aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the water issues (both qualitative and quantitative), more seriously, and generate a mechanism of rational use of water, protection of degrading water bodies and generate a thrust on proper management and utilization of water. Nepal National Water Week 2010 was celebrated nationwide with the theme Communicating Water Quality, Challenges and Opportunities as set by the United Nations. The programs of the week were categorized into four divisions: Research, Capacity Building, Advocacy and Awareness and among them Baseline Study of Rampur Ghol, Chitwan, Nepal was under the research program. This research study was a commitment of the Nepal National Committee for IHP, UNESCO. The financial support for the project was received from UNESCO Delhi and the technical support and research coordination was done by The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) and Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. ADAPT-Nepal (Association for the Development of Environment and People in Transition) assisted for the field data collection of the research study.
The Research Study Team consisted of:
Team Leader
Prof. Dr. Dharma Raj Dangol, IAAS
Research Associates
Jeeban Panthi, Piyush Dahal, SEN
Field Data Collection
Nitesh Shrestha, Swasti Budhathoki , Mumun Nepal, ADAPT Nepal
Aanta Prakash Subedi, IAAS
To support and facilitate the technical activities following Advisory Committee was formed:
1. Er. Adarsha P. Pokhrel, Chairman, IHP Nepal
2. Dr. Bhanu R. Neupane, Regional Programme Specialist for South Asia, UNESCO
3. Mr. Dhiraj Pradhananga, President, The Small Earth Nepal
This project was jointly launched on May 22, 2010 on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity at IAAS, Rampur by Prof. Dr. Resham Bahadur Thapa, Assistant Dean, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Rampur, Chitwan and Er. Adarsha P. Pokhrel, Chairperson, Nepal National Committee for IHP, UNESCO.