More than 1.5 million people live in the Kathmandu valley. The valley is facing an extreme shortage of water supply. At the same time the demand is escalating rapidly. To address this issue of scarcity of water, the government of Nepal has proposed a project of inter-basin transfer of water from Melamchi River located 40 Km north-east of the Kathmandu valley. The project will cover two districts and three municipalities and will potentially have significant impacts on the environment. In accordance with the Environmental Protection Regulation of Nepal (1997), the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has undergone an EIA during the feasibility study stage of the proposed project. The recommendations contained in the EIA were integrated into the project design for implementation in 2006. This paper summarizes the background of MWSP, the environmental concerns described in the EIA and the status of Environmental Management Plan (EMP) developed to address environmental compliance and other issues involving participation and support of the local people. This paper also provides some lessons to learn on the modalities of addressing the demands and grievances of the local people concerning environmental management.

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This study was aimed to determine the antibacterial activity of root bark, leaves, and pericarp extract of Diploknema butyracea and to evaluate the prospective antioxidant activity, total flavonoid, polyphenol, and carbohydrate content. The plant parts were collected and extracted by cold maceration, using hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol, and distilled water. Phytochemical screening of different samples of D. butyracea in different solvents revealed the presence of varied extent of alkaloid, saponin, terpenoid, anthraquinones, tannin, cardiac glycoside, flavonoid, carbohydrate, polyphenol, protein and amino acid, resin, and phytosterol. Our study showed that methanolic root bark extract exhibited the potent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Klebsiella pneumonia with an average zone of inhibition of 17.33 mm, 14.33 mm, and 13.0 mm, respectively. Surprisingly, all of the extracts were insensitive to Escherichia coli. The lowest minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), 4.6 mg/ml, was observed with the aqueous pericarp extract against S. epidermidis and the highest was of 50 mg/ml shown by ethyl acetate pericarp against K. pneumonia. Our results showed that both the polar and nonpolar components present in the different parts of D. butyracea exhibit prominent antibacterial activities against different bacterial strains. The in vitro 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity showed that the methanol extract of root barks displayed the most potent antioxidant activity (IC50 : 6.1 µg/ml). The total polyphenol content of the plant part extracts was observed between 19.48 ± 0.23 and 123.48 ± 1.84 µg gallic acid equivalent/mg of dry extract weight. Likewise, flavonoid content ranged from 40.63 ± 1.28 µg to 889.72 ± 3.40 μg quercetin equivalent/mg of dry extract weight and total carbohydrate content ranged from 11.92 ± 0.60 µg to 174.72 ± 0.60 µg glucose equivalent per/mg dry extract weight. Overall, our study showed that the root bark, pericarp, and leaves extract of D. butyracea evinced prominent antibacterial properties against various pathogenic bacterial strains.

Objective: Because of adverse side effects, caused by NSAIDs, tolerance, and dependence induced by opiates, the use of these analgesic agents has not been successful in all cases. Therefore, alternative analgesic drugs from plant sources are the new target now days. The objective of this study was to evaluate the analgesic activity of ethanolic extracts of stem barks and leaves of Ficus religiosa. Methods: The analgesic activity of ethanolic extract of stem barks and leaves was evaluated in the Swiss albino mice model using acetic acid-induced writing response and Eddy’s hot plate method. Analgesic activity was demonstrated with the percentage inhibition of acetic acid induced writings and the percentage increased in latency time of paw licking. The potency of test extracts was compared with standard drug, Diclofenac. Results: Ethanolic extract of leaves and bark of F. religiosa showed potential analgesic activity from both methods. From Eddy’s hot plate model, it was observed that the percentage of increased latency time at 90 min by ethanolic extract of leaves and stem bark was found to be 70.81 % (8.54 min) and 70.78 % (8.53 min) respectively at a dose of 400 mg/kg. Both of these results are statistically significant (p<0.05) as compared to the test group. Furthermore, both of these extracts showed the dose-dependent and time-dependent increased in latency time and these results are compared to that of standard drug Diclofenac. Similarly, ethanolic extract of leaves and stem at 400 mg/kg significantly inhibited the number of writhings induced by acetic acid. The percentage inhibition of writhings by ethanolic extract of leaves at a dose of 400 mg/kg was 68.47 % which was similar to that of standard drug Diclofenac (68.47 %). However, ethanolic extract of bark showed relatively lower percentage inhibition (60.79 %) as compared to leaf extract and standard, but the result was significant as compared to that of the test group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Ethanolic extracts of F. religiosa stem bark and leaf possess both central and peripheral analgesic properties and these effects may be beneficial for the management of pain.

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