“Better and broader sewage and wastewater systems will improve health and living conditions and reduce river pollution in Kathmandu Valley where the population has vastly outgrown the existing wastewater network,” the statement quotes Manoj Sharma, senior urban development specialist in ADB´s South Asia Department, as saying. [break]
The population of Kathmandu Valley, home to 2.51 million people, is growing at 4.3 percent per annum, faster than 1.4 percent annual growth rate in the rest of the country as per the Census 2011. However, low investment in sewerage systems is forcing communities to dump waste into the Bagmati River, which flows through Kathmandu Valley and is revered by Hindus and Buddhists, the statement says.
“This has increased health risks and puts an undue burden on the poor and vulnerable groups, notably women.”
The latest project, set for completion in 2018, will rebuild or lay around 514 kilometers of sewers and modernize and expand five wastewater treatment plants that would increase the treatment capacity from around 16 million liters per day to around 90 million liters per day.
The goal is to ensure the systems collect more than 80 percent of the area´s sewage by 2018 from 5 percent in 2012 and to ensure some 1.96 million beneficiaries are linked to the wastewater network. In 2012, only 1.20 million people were hooked up to the wastewater system.
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