Photo competition held in Kanyam

By Prem Adhikari, Ilam, Sept 28 : A photo competition was held in Kanyam of Suryodaya Municipality of Ilam district on the occasion of 'World Tourism Day' on Tuesday. 

The photo contest was organised by Suryodaya Municipality with the slogan of 'Explore the Unexplored'.

Suryodaya Municipality, which is considered to be the best of Province -1 in the field of tourism, held the competition with the aim of exploring many destinations that were not exposed yet. 

 Altogether 28 photographers participated in the competition.

Nisant Rana of Suryodaya -10 became the first for his night photograph of Kanyam while the photo with the view of the mountains seen from Kanyam taken by Suryodaya's Sundar Mainali got the second place.

Likewise,   the photo of the world's rare Hangrayo bird taken by Deven Kharel on the edge of Suryodaya- 1, won third place.  The first, second and third winners received prizes of Rs. 15,000, Rs.10, 000 and Rs. 5,000 respectively.

Engineer Sirjan Gadal of the municipality informed that the competition was organised to highlight the new tourist destinations of Ilam.

Speaking at the programme, Constituent Assembly Member Surya Bala Rai said that local municipalities should make tourism-friendly policies. 

He said that it was sad to lease tea gardens including Kanyam to the Indian companies and the government should own them.

Mayor Rana Bahadur Rai said that despite the declaration of Suryodaya as a tourist city by the Province -1 government, there was still a need for formulating a tourist city policy. 

He said that promoting tourism could not be done only by building infrastructure, but local cultures  and lifestyles should also be promoted.  There is a need for economic and social transformation of Suryodaya, he added. 

Milan Bhattarai, chief administrative officer of the municipality, said that Suryodaya should lead the tourism of the eastern belt.  He said, "Tourism business should be improved and made a sustainable business."

On the occasion of the World Tourism Day, the city also organised cleaning programmes at Kanyam, Antu, Fikkal and other places.

 There are dozens of tourist spots in the municipality such as Kanyam, Antu, Buddha Park, Swami Park, Chitre Gumba and Patal cave. 

Earlier, the Province- 1 government had declared Suryodaya as a tourist town.