Natural Hot Spring Kund in Myagdi Overlooked Due to Lack of Infrastructure and Promotion

Myagdi. The natural hot spring kund located in Bagar of Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-4 in Myagdi has been overlooked. The natural hot spring kund, which can be developed as a natural treatment and tourist destination, has been overlooked due to lack of infrastructure, lack of publicity, and lack of proper management. Near Jeltung village of Bagar, at the foot of the mountain and on the banks of the Myagdi River, there is a spring from which hot water comes out naturally at a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius. Ward member of Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-4, Hariprasad Tilija, said that the kund has been overlooked as its features and importance are limited to the local level, with a lack of suspension bridges on the trail leading to the hot spring kund, well-managed ponds for bathing, and shelters. "We are trying to manage the hot spring kund, which is used by the residents of Bagar and surrounding villages for natural treatment," he said. "We have moved forward with management, infrastructure construction, and promotion to develop the hot spring, which has been operating normally for many years, as a natural treatment center." Ward member Tilija said that preparations are being made to build infrastructure such as ponds and shelters for men and women to bathe separately in the hot spring kund through the social responsibility program of the 65 MW Myagdi Khola Hydropower Project being constructed in Bagar. Land management has been done for infrastructure construction. Currently, there is a facility to bathe by immersing the body in a pond located inside a stone-tiled shed. Efforts are also being made to build a suspension bridge over the Myagdi River on the road from Bagar to Dobhan, which is on the way to the hot spring kund. Amar Rasaili of Khiwang, Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-4, said that bathing in this hot spring pond cures health problems such as injuries, toothaches, skin problems, goiters, sprains, and gastric issues. "Since back pain is cured, I come to soak in the hot spring for 10 to 15 days every year," he said. "After immersing my body in the hot spring for two hours daily, I don't catch a cold, and I have the experience that injuries and loss of appetite are also cured." Currently, residents of Bagar, Mudhi, Naura, Khiwang, Malkwang, Malampaar, Marang, and Bim, Muna come to the hot spring kund here to bathe and get treatment. Two to three hundred people come to bathe in the hot spring annually. Road transport facilities have also recently reached near the hot spring kund, which is a 10-minute walk from Bagar village. If this hot spring kund and the adjacent Armake waterfall are managed properly, there is potential for development as a natural treatment center and tourist destination. The hot spring kund and Armake waterfall are included in the circular Dhaulagiri trekking route.