Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) Chairman and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who went to Myagdi for treatment of his wife Sita Dahal, has claimed that they contributed to promotion of Tatopani pond as a tourist destination.
Speaking at a program organized by the Myagdi Chamber of Commerce and Industries at Beni on Wednesday Dahal, who reached Myagdi on a Nepal Army (NA) Mi-17 chopper on Monday along with his wife, CPN secretariat member and Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and the latter's wife Nainkala Thapa for water therapy, claimed that the photos of them bathing in the pond has helped tourism promotion.
"The way in which the photos of us taking a plunge in the pond were published in the media has helped Tourism Year 2075 (sic)," Dahal jokingly stated. "I have volunteered for three days for tourism development of Tatopani for free. I had not come on anybody's invitation this time."
He revealed that he came to Tatopani as his wife Sita believed that she will feel better after bathing in the hot waters of Tatopani pond. "Somebody told her that she will feel better after taking a plunge in Tatopani. I asked for leave with prime minister and arrived with home minister as she insisted on going to Tatopani for over two months," he stated. "The patients there also looked upbeat on seeing us at Tatopani."
The Dahals and Thapas completed a three-day course of water therapy at Tatopani pond which is seven kilometers away from Beni.
Sita was recently taken to Singapore for treatment after tests at different hospitals in Nepal could not diagnose her ailment. She was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy there.
Separate spots have been kept for men and women to take a bath at Tatopani. The water at the pond has a temperature of around 50 degree Celsius. One has to pay Rs 300 for a session in the pond.
