Kathmandu, Feb 26 : Keeping in view the disasters caused by the Koshi River over the years, the Nepal Government has come up with a pilot project to manage its basins.

A joint initiative of the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) and the World Wildlife Fund, the Koshi River Basin Management (KRBM) programme had launched on Wednesday to make optimum use of Koshi basin's water.

Launching the programme, Acting Secretary of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat Kishor Thapa said the programme would be implemented with active involvement of local governmental and non-governmental organisations in a decentralised system as envisaged under the National Water Plan 2005.

Management of Koshi, a transnational river flowing across the international boundaries of China, Nepal and India, holds wide significance given the fact that it functions as one of the major life support systems for millions of people living along its basins and in south Asia.

According to WWF, the river contributes 10 percent of water discharge in the Ganges, and is second only to the Yellow River of China in terms of sedimentation, which leads to massive desertification.

The programme is designed to take off with field activities in the Dudh Koshi sub-Basin, one of the seven sub-basins of the Koshi River Basin within Nepal, Kantipur reported. (ANI)