Chief Justice Raut calls for conservation and protection of water resources

Kathmandu, Aug 24: Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut has said that the pressing and top agenda of the present time was the conservation, protection and utilisation of water resources.

At a programme organised by the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation on Sunday, the Chief Justice said that the crisis of drinking water and its imbalances caused due to climate change impacts could be the severest crisis in human life. “We are gradually losing the white Himalayas. Now, they are changing into the black mountains.

Climate change has seriously impacted our sources of water. In this situation, conservation and protection of water is inevitable besides its utilisation,” according to the Chief Justice. On the occasion, the Chief Justice described water not only as a natural resource but a lifeline for the continuation of human civilisation and nature. Chief Justice Raut warned that our future could be dark if we failed to ensure proper management of water.

He also stated that the stage should be serious to the implementation of the constitutionally ensured right to natural resources, and added that water is also the backbone for national prosperity and sustainable development. Foundation’s Chairman Dr Ngmindra Dahal said that the sources of water across the country were at risk due to unequal distribution of water, pollution, unplanned urbanisation and some other reasons.

During the event, writer and former water resources secretary Bhubanesh Kumar Pradhan was awarded the ‘National Resource Protector Award.’ This prestigious award was established to celebrate and honour those exceptional patriots who have dedicated themselves to safeguarding Nepal’s most vital natural resources, according to the Foundation.