Sutaiya Lake developing into a tourism destination

Kathmandu: The Sutaiya Tal in Baijanath rural municipality-3 of Banke district is developing into a new destination for domestic tourists.

This lake is situated around six kilometers north of Kohalpur town and near 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 of 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 responsibility for the conservation and promotion of the lake for the last decade.

Mahendra Tharu, the former president of the Group, said that this lake has been the choice for 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 to conduct many eco-tourism activities while at the same time conserving the lake ecosystem, it has not made headway due to a 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 an embankment around the lake for its conservation. The rural municipality Chair sought the support of the provincial and federal governments for the construction of additional tourism facilities in the area.

‘It would be a good source of income for 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 investments due to the paucity of financial resources. Therefore, the province and federal governments too should chip in our endeavors,’ he emphasized.

RSS