One of the most revered holy places in the world for the Hindus is the Pashupatinath temple, situated on the banks of the Bagmati river. Every year, thousands of devotees visit Pashupatinath on many auspicious occasions like Shivaratri, Janai Purnima and solar eclipses, and bathe in the Bagmati river. But now, the Bagmati river is extremely polluted and devotees have to brave immense health hazards if they want to take a dip in the river. This situation has become worse over the years, with domestic sewage carried by storm drainage from residential areas in Chabahil and Bouddha.

Casual acceptance

Is it not highly objectionable and shameful to let loose domestic pollution into the river in such an indiscriminate manner? It is strange that national media have not highlighted the problems posed by such pollution. Furthermore, no organisation working within the temple’s premises has raised its voice about this alarming situation. This kind of quiet acceptance shows that despite the pollution being an anthropogenic phenomenon, it has been casually acknowledged as a natural process. At present, this situation is impossible to avoid. However, we can divert this polluted river flow to Tilganga through the Guheshwori filtration plant and restore crystal clear water—starting from the Bagmati river up to Aryaghat, and quite possibly beyond that point as well.

A few years ago, basic groundwork was laid by a project which placed 60cm diameter concrete pipes from Attarkhel, Kathmandu Medical College to Guheshwori

filtration plant intercepting all points of pollution on the way. Through the filtration plant, the effluent water was diverted downstream to Aryaghat, channelising through a small tunnel to Tilganga and then ultimately to Bagmati. Currently, it seems that there has been a total disruption of the effluent flow from the filtration plant, which is dysfunctional for unknown reasons. However, the process of channelising polluted water through concrete pipes from Attarkhel is ongoing. Now, the major task that lies ahead is to interconnect the sewage drains of Chabahil and Bouddha to the main pipeline starting from Attarkhel with the help of cross drains at various pollution outlets.

Immediate measures

Thus, to achieve this purpose, some political will at a higher level must be present. In addition, regular and local administration must be galvanised into action to plan effective programmes. This may involve some budgetary provisions from the central government to the local body for some years. Apart from this, research must be carried out on pockets of potential residential areas that unethically discharge sewage. For example, studies on areas like Gokarneswor and Sundarijal must be carried out and strict legislation must be passed to impose mandatory household septic tanks throughout the upstream section of the river up to Sundarijal. It is to be noted that at Gorkaneswor, for the last few years, there has been a direct release of collective sewage into the river through a pipe 12 inches in diameter. This practice continues till date and must be stopped immediately.

Beyond Aryaghat, purifying the water is not possible. Nevertheless, physical removal of the debris and solid waste from the river can be carried out from time to time. It is extremely important to ensure that the river flows freely instead of turning stagnant. The Bagmati Cleaning Campaign, which takes place every Saturday, has gained momentum. Such efforts help to improve the river flow by removing the debris and solid waste at various places, especially at the business hubs of the city. We must be grateful to the efforts made by the Bagmati Cleaning Campaign as well as all the volunteers who sacrifice their time to make Kathmandu Valley cleaner, greener and healthier. In the absence of such voluntary services, Kathmandu Valley is bound to confront stagnant rivers and water pollution, leading to a spike in water-borne diseases.

Rajbhandary is former chief engineer at the department of housing, building and physical planning