KASKI, APR 07 - While all
glacial lakes in the country are located 4,000 metres above sea level, Kapuche
glacial lake is unique in that it is ideally located just 2,546 metres above
sea level. But despite immense tourism potential it has shown, the government
as well as tourism entrepreneurs have not been able to cash in on it.
The glacial lake, which is
formed after glacier erodes the land and then melts to fill the space that it
has created, is the only such lake to be located at an astonishingly low
altitude. Experts say that it is surprising to find a glacial lake below 4,000
metres.
The lake, which has grown
in size over the years and continues to do so, is situated merely eight hours
uphill walk from Sikles VDC, making it a perfect destination for tourists and
trekking enthusiasts with limited time and budget.
Man Bahadur Gurung,
chairperson of the local conservation committee who treks to the glacial lake
at least twice a year, said that he finds it surprising that despite holding
immense tourism potential, local authorities as well as tourism entrepreneurs
have not been able to devise ways to promote the lake and benefit from it.
“However, the trail leading
to the lake is not very easy,” Gurung said, adding that he was trying to find
an alternative route to the lake.
“But, it is not easy to
find an investor ready to bear the expenses for the survey and construction of
the foot trail,” he said. Moreover, even the Department of Hydrology and
Meteorology (DoHM) does not have much information about the lake. Dr. Hum
Bahadur Gurung, a noted conservationist who hails from Sikles, said that the
department started to take keen interest in the lake only recently.
“The Department of
Hydrology and Meteorology should immediately conduct a detailed survey of the
Kapuche glacial lake to gather more information about the lake,” Dr Gurung
said, In a telephone conversation
with the Post, DoHM’s director Rishi Ram Sharma said that he had learned about
the glacial lake from Dr Gurung, adding that it was indeed surprising to find a
glacial lake at such a low altitude and that it needed to be surveyed.
Sharma said the lake had
managed to fall off the government’s radar due to tendency of its agencies to
only take note of those glacial lakes which pose an immediate threat of
bursting through the glacial dam. “Instead of just looking at it from
tourism point of view, a glacial lake which is expanding in size is a cause for
concern and that it needed to be properly surveyed for probable effects and
threats it poses,” he said.
While government agencies
are just learning about the lake, Japanese environmentalist Jiro Komori, who is
assistant professor at the Teikyo Heisei University, Japan, has already
conducted a detailed survey of the lake, said local hotel entrepreneur Dhan
Gurung, who had accompanied him the Japanese professor to the lake. Citing
Komori, Gurung said the lake is some 40 metres deep spanning 300 metres in
width and 400 metres in length.
होचो ठाउँमा रमणीय हिमताल
मुलुकका अधिकांश हिमतालहरू समुद्र सतहको चार हजार मिटरमाथि छन् । तर, कास्कीको पार्चे गाविसमा २५ सय ४६ मिटरकै उचाइमा कपूचे नामको हिमताल छ । अन्नपूर्ण-२ हिमालबाट खस्ने हिउँले बनेको यो मुलुककै सबैभन्दा कम उचाइमा अवस्थित हिमताल हो ।
बाटोको असुविधाका कारण यो तालमा न पर्यटक पुग्छन्, न त पर्यटन प्रवर्द्धन गर्ने निकायको नजर पुगेको छ । थोरै दुःख खेपेर पदयात्रा गर्न रूचाउनेका लागि सिक्लेसबाट आठ घण्टाको पैदल दूरिमा पर्ने यो तालको विस्तारै आकार बढ्दो छ । नीलो तालमा हिउँका ढिक्काहरू तैरिरहेका देखिन्छन् । बेला बेला माथिबाट खस्ने हिमपहिरो ठूलो आवाजका साथ यहाँ खस्छन् ।
