The Seventeenth INPIM Nepal Talk Program was organized on 1st February 2018 (18th Margh 2074) at the Mail Hall of the Department of Irrigation office at Jawalakhel. The program started punctually at the set time of 3 pm and went up to 5pm. More than hundred participants participated in the program.
At the onset of the program, the President of INPIM Nepal, Mr. Suman Sijapati, provided briefing of INPIM Nepal Activities and it current status. Then he went on to give a general introduction to the topic and went on to explain how, on the basis of suggestions from the INPIM Nepal members, the topic for the talk program was selected as: “Managing Water Resources in Nepal in the changed, decentralized (federal) context”.
Three presentations were presented during the Talk Program. The first presentation was on “Water Resources in the Constitution”. This presentation was made by Mr. Surya Nath Upadhyay, Ex-Secretary of Water Resources. Mr. Upadhyay explained the basic concept adopted in the new constitution for the provision of utilization of natural resources especially water resources.
The second presentation was on “Participatory River Basin Management as a Backbone for Integrated Water Resource Management under Decentralized System of Governance: Learning from Best Practices”. This presentation was made by Dr. Sanjay Giri, Senior Advisor Inland Water System Unit from the Independent Research Foundation 'Deltares', Delft, The Netherlands. Dr. Giri explained the example from Spain and explained how their experiences can be very useful for us.
Similarly, the third presentation was on “Proposed Policy and Program for Managing Water Resources in the Changed, Decentralized Context”. This presentation was made by Mr. Madhav Belbase, Joint Secretary, Water and Energy Commission Secretariat. Mr. Belbase explained the exercises currently being carried out by the Government of Nepal in managing its water resources.
After these three presentations, the floor was open for question/answers and discussion. The participants actively participated in this session. Several questions were raised on each of the presentations and there was a good round of discussion and many participants expressed their views as to how the water resources should be managed in the federal context. At the end of the program, the INPIM Nepal President, Mr. Suman Sijapati wrapped up saying that this is just the beginning of the series of discussion that needs to be held in this pertinent topic as the country has already decided to move towards this path of federalism and there are going to be many ups and downs but such dialogues much continue.