LAMJUNG, Nepal – The one-time thriving rafting business on the Marshyangdi River has greatly suffered after the construction of mid-Marshyangdi Hydropower project, local tourism entrepreneurs lamented.
With the river water used for generating hydro power, hotels on the riverside, which depended on tourists enthusiastic about canoeing and rafting on the turbulent, fast-flowing waters of the river, have suffered a lot.
Most of them have downed their shutters as the river now tamed for generating hydropower has ceased to lure tourists for rafting and other water related recreational activities.
โThere was a time when rafting drew hordes of tourists to the river, now it isnโt suitable for adventurous activities,โ said Deepak Magar a local of Besishahar, recalling the when tourists thronged the river at district headquarters Besishahar, Ngadi and other places.
Local tourism entrepreneurs accused the government of neglecting the tourism industry. โThough hydro power is the main concern of the country right now, the government can also do the needful so that the tourism sector suffers the least due to hydro power projects,โ said a local tourism entrepreneur.
โThere are already two large projects in the river and new projects are under way, so all these things have hit the one-time up and running business hard,โ said Yubraj Ahidkari, a rafting guide.