Kaligandaki flood turns Tatopani hot spring into barren riverbed

By Thakur Prasad Acharya, Beni, Oct. 16: The Kaliganaki river flood on September 27 has wiped out the natural hot spring at Ratopani in Annapurna Rural Municipality-6, Myagdi, leaving the once-popular tourist and therapeutic destination buried beneath a barren riverbed.

The flood swept away the structures built to protect and develop the hot spring, destroying infrastructure worth around Rs. 10 million. The site, which had attracted tourists and people seeking relief from various health problems, has now been reduced to a riverbed.

The Rural Municipality had been developing the site as a tourist destination over the past nine years. However, the flood that struck the Kaligandaki river in September last week swept away the hot spring and its associated facilities.

The river now flows through the site where the hot spring pool once stood, while the natural source of hot water has shifted about 30 metres downstream.

Annapurna Rural Municipality Chairman Bharat Kumar Pun said the flood had completely destroyed the infrastructure developed through years of effort and investment, leaving the investment made so far in ruins.

As rebuilding the hot spring at its original location would be difficult, the rural municipality is exploring the possibility of channelling the water from the natural source to another location and constructing a bathing facility there, he said.