Talks of establishing child-friendly schools are ongoing but the students of Nepal Adarsha Secondary School aren’t able to walk into and out of their schools without covering their noses. Last Tuesday, eighth grader Kumar Shrestha was seen coming out of the school with his tie covering his nose. Kumar shares that he has been traumatized with the situation ever since he was a fourth grader. It’s not only the students but even the teachers who are frustrated with the garbage, laments Principal Barun Vaidya.
Kumar shares that due to the garbage, he has been facing respiratory problems. “Because of the blazing sun, the garbage has rotted and the smell from it makes it difficult for me to breathe,” says Kumar, “When it rains, the waste mixes up with the sewage water. It gets all muddy and impossible to reach school sometimes.” The teachers say that due to the long gathered wastes, students have been facing problems such as dizziness, difficulties in respiration, headaches and lack of concentration during classes. 400 students from this school have been affected by this situation. “Today, while entering the school gate, the garbage got into my shoes and made me uneasy during the class,” shares Prabin Sanjel, an eighth grader, adding, “Because of the foul smell, I can’t concentrate on what is being taught during the classes.”
In this combo picture, seen are the students of Nepal Adarsha Secondary School in Ganabahal, Sundhara, and the garbage dumped outside the school´s premises. Over the years, the school management has knocked at the doors of the Municipality Office but to no avail. The spot has become unofficial dumping site for the neighborhood.Photo: Ruby Rauniyar
The students share that the decade-long efforts of both the students and the teachers to remove the waste have failed. “We initiated an awareness program about waste management in the 22 ward area. We even established a shrine there and carried out pujas but it didn’t stop the local residents from throwing their wastes, even on top of the shrine,” says another student, Nirajan Ghimire who frequently suffers from headaches because of the garbage smell.
Principal Vaidya shares that the school teachers, staff and the students have been forced to teach and study in a critical situation, courtesy of the locals who have been cultured to throw their wastes in front of the school stuffed in plastic bags. “Earlier, they used to pollute the school periphery and now, the wastes are piled in front of the school’s gate,” he says. “We also had a sit-in at the municipality but nothing came out of it,” he adds. According to Vaidya, this situation arose from the ignorance of the municipality towards the health of the children and the lack of awareness amongst the locals. The school was established in the year 1950 with the aim of educating the local children.
Vaidya says that the vehicle from the municipality comes to pick up garbage in the interval of two days. However, the municipality is not aware enough to restrict people from polluting the school area. The Nepal Adarsha Secondary School area has become an unofficial dumping site.
Suman Sapkota Maharjan, a student, shares that his efforts to manage the waste in front of his school have all gone to vain. Not only the locals living near the area, but also, the people living far off, treat the area as a disposal site.
Maharjan says in disgust, “People come in motorcycles to throw their garbage.”
KATHMANDU, Oct 6: Watching a movie is a great means of entertainment. We can forget about our surroundings for a while and immerse ourselves in the story in front of us. It’s fun, it’s tragic, it will have us gripping the edge of our seat: so many different moods within three hours or so. Then, once in a while, we are faced with a new movie that has been made as homage to a book. Should we or shouldn’t we go watch it?
Sawal Maskey says, “It’s not bad to adapt a popular novel into a movie. There are many movies, like Harry Potter, Twilight and Lord of the Rings to name a few, which have portrayed the novels well in the big screen. But my personal experience suggests that the details and the pleasure you get from reading a novel cannot be compared to watching a movie in a limited time. So, the best thing would be to read the novel first and then watch the movie. It feels good to contrast your imagination of the book to that of the movie director.”
Many Twilight fans were disappointed after the movie came out. Robert Downing Jr was a bit weird as Sherlock Holmes. Somehow, movies made out of books never really satisfy the readers. Perhaps, only Nicholas Sparks’ romance novels get closer to keeping the audience quiet.
Hari Pokhrel says, “I don’t like the movies based on books because they couldn’t or can’t justify the real meaning of the books. The filmmakers are hardly able to bring to life the exact sense/meaning of the book on the big screen. While you are reading the book, you might be imagining a particular scene in your own way. However, we are mostly faced with the director’s vision of the book. So I would say that a movie based on a book can’t justify the book at all.”
Nirmal Kurtyel also supports this. He shares on our Facebook page, “No way. Reading a novel is far better than watching the movie made out of the book. The movie has to include every important detail of the book and finish it within two and a half hours. That time is not possible to do justice to the book. For me, it’s a big no.”
Related story
Locals obstruct dumping of garbage in Banchare Danda
_20240311121839.jpg)
