Nepal’s water resources are widely and unequally dispersed, leading to both abundances and shortages depending on season and locations. Its Constitution prescribes that the State shall carry out multi-purpose development of water resources, ensuring the availability of energy, developing sustainable and reliable irrigation and reduce water-induced disasters by adopting good river management.
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) organized a workshop in Nepal to share project implementation activities and discuss ideas with government stakeholders on promoting climate change adaptation and building resilience in the water sector.
Participants included government officials and departmental researchers from the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI), Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (DOWRI), Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Department of Electricity Development (DoED), Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) and Water Resources Research and Development Center (WRRDC) as well as representatives from the World Bank.
Mr. Ram Gopal Kharbuja, Joint Secretary of MOEWRI, explaining project opportunities.
Mr. Ram Gopal Kharbuja, Joint Secretary of MOEWRI, introduced the CARE for South Asia project and opportunities to strengthen collaboration with the Government. Mr. Kharbuja suggested that the project will help identify gaps in the Water Resources Policy 2020 and other plans and strategies and provide necessary support in design guidelines, standards and capacities.
Mr. Avani Mani Dixit, Disaster Risk Management Specialist at The World Bank, explained that government agencies were consulted to identify the most critical sectors related to climate adaptation and resilience in the country. These consultations significantly contributed to recognizing Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan as CARE for South Asia’s focal countries.
Dr. Laxman Sharma, Water Resources Management (WRM) Specialist at ADPC, discussing the project’s activities
Dr. Niladri Gupta, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Specialist at ADPC and Dr. Laxman Sharma, Water Resources Management (WRM)Specialist at ADPC presented on the project’s regional aspects and intended activities in Nepal, which helped create a better understanding of the project’s current and anticipated outputs.
Participants were invited to share their perspectives and priorities in Nepal’s water sector. Key issues raised include climate change adaptation’s impacts on economic and social wellbeing, access to electricity especially from hydropower, irrigation and river basin planning, groundwater policies and flood preparation and the need for strong policies and institutions.
ADPC will use the outcomes of this workshop to fine tune and further develop sub-activities, carrying out detailed consultations with specific offices and coming up with concrete action plans for water sector management.
The CARE for South Asia project is supported by the World Bank and its overall objective is to contribute to an enabling environment for climate resilient policies and investments in agriculture, transport, water, and policy, planning and finance sectors in South Asia.