President Bidhya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the two-day Bagmati Mahotsav at Guheshwori on Saturday, marking the 150th week of Bagmati Mega Clean-up Campaign.
Before joining hands with hundreds of participants, President Bhanadari also inaugurated a children’s park, which is spread over six ropanis of land, in the area.
She also requested everyone to participate in the campaign to keep the holy river clean. She also stressed on the need to use new technology to clean the Bagmati river which has historical, religious and cultural significance.
Saturday’s programme was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, former chief secretary Leela Mani Paudyal, who initiated the campaign, government officials, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel and students.
Nineteen Miss Nepal beauty pageant contestants too were present. “This is our first participation in the campaign. Attending such programmes would help make us more accountable,” said Asmi Shrestha, one of the participants of this year’s Miss Nepal pageant.
Speaking at the programme, DPM Gacchadar said, “Just the way we are cleaning the river, we need to clean up ourselves as well.”
Former chief secretary Paudyal thanked all the volunteers who have participated in the cleaning drive for the last three years.
“Our aim is to handover the Bagmati river to the new generation in its original state,” said Paudyal.
During the programme, President Bhandari also handed over certificates and prizes to winners of an inter school poetry and drawing competition on the theme “Mero Sapana Ko Bagmati”. Students from 62 schools of the valley had taken part in competition.
The Bagamati Mega Clean-up Campaign was launched on May 18, 2013 at the initiative of the former chief secretary Paudyal.
According to the High Powered Committee for Intergraded Development of Bagmati Civilization (HPCIDBC), over 7,000 metric tonnes of solid waste has been extracted from the Bagmati river since the campaign was launched.
Last year, to mark the 100th week of clean-up driver, over 60,000 people from different walks of life had formed a 58-kilometre human chain from Sundarijal to Chobhar.
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues, crime, and human interest stories since 2011. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
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