Wearing white disposable gloves, masks and gum boots, they cleaned the river in Tilganga area as part of the Bagmati Sanitation Grand Campaign (BSGC). [break]
According to the organizing committee of the BSGC, over 2,000 volunteers took part in cleaning the river, the highest number of participants ever in the campaign that began six weeks ago. The campaign started on May 19 with the initiatives of Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN), Film Artist Association of Nepal (FAAN), Gayatri Pariwar Kathmandu. Later, several colleges, schools, NGOs, government organization also joined the campaign.
“The number of volunteers is increasing in every campaign which is really commendable,” said Raj Kumar Bhattarai, president of the AAN. “Their huge presence shows their love and concern toward our holy river.”
According to Bhattarai, people are themselves responsible for the misery of the river and they themselves have to clean it rather wait for the government to take action.
“We will continue with our campaign probably for a year,” said Dipendra KC, member of Gayatri Pariwar Kathmandu. “Cleaning the river alone is not sufficient. We must preserve it. Otherwise, it will again fall back to its initial condition.”
The campaign began its work from the Guheshwari Temple area. Then, it moved to the Aarya Ghat at the Pasupatinath Temple and then to the area near Tilganga. Huge presence of volunteers in every campaign showed that people really want to clean the river. People of different age groups joined the effort and made the BSGC campaign successful.
Saraswati Dhital, 58, has been one of the regular participants of the campaign. She says she wants to see the river as clean as it was when she was a kid. “People must be aware of what they are doing,” she said. “People are using the river as dumping site. They have forgotten its importance."
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