Location
The municipality of Pokhara spans 12 km from north to south and 6 km from east to west but, unlike the capital Kathmandu, it is quite loosely built up and still has much green space. The valley is approximately divided into four to five parts by the rivers Seti, Bijayapur, Bagadi and Fusre. The Seti Gandaki flowing through the city from north to south divides the city roughly in two halves with the business area of Chipledunga in the middle, the old town centre of Bagar in the north and the tourist district of Lakeside (Baidam) to the south all lying on the western side of the river. The gorge through which the river flows is crossed at five places at K.I. Singh Pul, Mahendra Pul and Prithvi Highway Pul from north to south of the city respectively. The floor of the valley is plain and resembles Terai due to its gravel like surface and has slanted orientation from northwest to southeast. The city is surrounded by the hills overlooking the entire valley.
Phewa Lake was slightly enlarged by damming which poses a risk of silting up due of the inflow during the monsoon. The outflowing water is partially used for hydropower generation. The dam collapsed in 1974 which resulted in draining of its water and exposing the land leading to illegal land encroachment, since then the dam has been rebuilt. The power plant is located about 100 m below at the bottom of the Phusre Khola gorge. Water from Phewa is diverted for irrigation into the southern Pokhara valley. The eastern Pokhara Valley receives irrigation water through a canal running from a reservoir by the Seti in the north of the city. Some parts of Phewa lake are used as commercial cage fisheries.
Most of the tourists visiting Pokhara begin and end trek to the Annapurna Base Camp and Mustang. The tourist district is along the north shore of the lake (Baidam, Lakeside and Damside). It is mainly made up of small shops, non-star tourist hotels, restaurants and bars. Most upscale and starred hotels are on the southern and south-eastern fringes of the city where there are more open lands and therefore unhindered view of the mountains. To the east of the Pokhara valley, in Lekhnath municipality, there are seven smaller lakes such as Begnas Lake and Rupa Lake. Begnas Tal is also known for its fishery projects.
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