Bagmati is regaining life, but very slowly

KATHMANDU, May 5: Nearly two decades ago, after the body of popular communist leader Madan Bhandari, who was killed in what is known as the infamous Dasdhunga incident, was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat, his widow Bidya Bhandari, now vice-chairperson of the CPN (UML), wanted to take a dip in the Bagmati River.

But to her dismay, instead of water only untreated sewage was flowing in the river, spreading overpowering stench. [break]

Suppressing her desire to take bath in the holy river, Bhandari then just took a few drops from the river on her palms. "The stench of what I put on my palms for just a few seconds was so disgusting that my hands stank for three days," Bhandari recalls. "The stench did not go easily. I had to wash my hands with soap over and again."

The only existing waste water treatment plant in the Pashupati Temple area has been affected by acute power outage. Authorities say they are asking for a separate feeder line with Nepal Electricity Authority to run the plant 24 hours. (Photo: Bhaswor Ojha)

Until then, Bhandari had only heard about how polluted the Bagmati river, source of civilization in the Kathmandu Valley, was. "After I myself suffered from the pollution of the Bagmati River, I could not remain silent," she shares. A couple of years later, Bhandari headed the first ever committee formed by the government to conserve the Bagmati River.

Twenty years down the line, the Bagmati River is almost as polluted as it was back in the early 90s. The Bhandari-committee was short-lived. Several other committees have been formed and billions of rupees have been spent since then. But, not much progress has been made in reviving the river.

Beacon of hope

Today, unlike in the early 90s, people need not cover their nostrils to shout out the odor wafting out of the Bagmati River while walking around Pashupati Aryaghat. The water in the river does not stink. It rather looks fresh and clean compared to other areas.

"A few weeks ago, the locals even caught a small fish in the Bagmati River just behind the Pashupatinath temple complex," said Ram Kumar Shrestha, an engineer with the High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization. "This is a sign that the river is regaining its life."

The Bagmati River seems alive only in the Pashupatinath temple area, though. Below the Pashupatinath temple, there has not been any visible improvement. The locals complain that the stench of the river become so unbearable in the winter that they cannot even eat their meals properly.

Even in the Pashupatinath area, the high-powered committee has not done much but just built a waste water treatment plant, which prevents the untreated sewage from flowing directly into the river. Waste water released by people in the Chabahil area does not get mixed with the river as it is channeled to the plant and released into the river only after being treated. The sludge segregated from waste water is used by the locals as fertilizers.

"The plant has saved the river from completely dying," says Mahesh Bahadur Basnet, chairman of the committee. "If we build more of such plants and operate them 24 hours a day, only clean water will flow into rivers."

According to Basnent, the existing plant cannot treat waste water during load-shedding hours. And, due to the lack of other waste treatment pants, sewage released from other parts of the city is directly mixed with the river. "We are currently holding talks with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to secure a separate feeder line to run the plant 24 hours," he says.

On the other hand, under the Kathmandu Valley Waste Water Management Project (KVWWMP), funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) is planning to build nearly half a dozen waste water treatment plants in different parts of the city within the next five years.

"The plants we are going to build will have modern technologies," says Anil Bhadra Khanal, deputy director at Project Implementation Directorate (PID) of the KUKL. "Once these plants come into operation, only well-treated waste water will be released into the river."

Today, water coming from the Shivapuri watershed does not flow along the Bagmati. Instead, it is collected and distributed by the KUKL for the Kathmandu denizens. What people see flowing through the Bagmati River is, in fact, just sewage. "The Bagmati River is also a drain for the Valley folks," says Khanal, adding, "And, there is nothing wrong in it."

In fact, most of the rivers that flow through cities are alive just because of waste water, according to Khanal. "We cannot expect the KUKUL to let water from the Shivapuri hills flow through the Bagamti River and deprive people of drinking water," says he. "But, waste water should be released into the Bagmati River only after being treated."

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INTERVIEW

For smooth implementation of the action plan, we need full authority

Mahesh Bahadur Basnet

Chairman, High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization

More than three years have elapsed after the government approved Bagmati Action Plan (2009-2015). Has the progress been satisfactory?

We have been doing a lot of work to restore the Bagmati River. But, I must admit that implementation of the Bagmati Action Plan has not been satisfactory. In the first three years, we have done very little to implement the action plan. With only two years of the action plan left, we are now feeling the urgency to carry out works as per the action plan.

What are the major hurdles in the implementation of the action plan?

There are many hurdles. But, evicting squatters from along the banks of the river is proving to be the most problematic. When landless squatters were evicted from Thapathali, we hoped that the action plan would be implemented smoothly. But the eviction drive fizzled out. Landless squatters still live along the river banks. In some places, they have erected their huts almost in the middle of the river. The action plan cannot be implemented unless they are evicted from there.

And?

And, budget crunch is another major problem. In the Kathmandu Valley, if someone buys a land, he has to pay 0.5 per cent of the total amount for conserving and developing the Bagmati river basin system. This money goes to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the MoF gives us very little of that money. We have been demanding that the money that people pay as tax for development of the Bagmati River basin should directly come to our fund.

So, there is no hope?

No, there is hope. We can do a lot in the remaining two years of the action plan. But, for the smooth implementation of the action plan, we have to have a strong act, which gives us full authority. The proposed Bagmati Civilization Development Council Act-2066 BS allows us to recommend departmental actions against any government authorities who do not cooperate with us. Besides, all government bodies like the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and the Department of Roads (DoR) should obtain our permission before doing anything in the river basin.

As there is no legislative parliament, we are now lobbying with the government to introduce this act through an ordinance. Once this act comes into effect, we will be able to carry out our works more easily.