By Xinhua,
Kathmandu : A high-level Indian technical team is arriving in Nepali capital Kathmandu Tuesday to discuss a possible long term solution to the problem caused by Saptakoshi floods every year in southeast Nepal.
According to local news website eKantipur, the Indian team led by Chairman of Central Water Commission of India AK Bajaj is scheduled to visit Saptakoshi ravaged areas for two days from Wednesday.
After the visit, the team will hold discussion with a high level Nepali team led by Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) Shanker Koirala including senior Nepali officials and experts on Friday.
Officials at the MoWR say that during the meeting Nepal will stick to its original stance that the Saptakoshi spur be reconstructed strictly as per the original design when it was first built to check river flooding in India’s Bihar state.
The entire responsibility of operation and maintenance of Saptakoshi Barrage and embankment in the Saptakoshi area falls on India, according to the Nepal-India Koshi Treaty-1954.
Saptakoshi River, which runs from Himalaya to India, broke out on Aug. 18 displacing over 50,000 people living in Saptari district and Sunsari district, some 190 km and 220 km southeast of the Nepali capital Kathmandu respectively.