Dying Kathmandu

Kesh B Malla
Newsfront Weekly, 14-20, July, 08

Kathmandu, one of the most beautiful tourist destinations, is also listed among the most polluted cities of the world. The rapid and unplanned urbanisation of the valley in the last decades, which was the result of centralised development system, contributed to the making of the polluted Kathmandu. Increasing population, polluting vehicles and industries have acted together to deteriorate the environment in the valley.

The environmental degradation especially of water and air has a great negative impact on the health of people. One of the most serious public health issues facing Kathmandu is water pollution. Water pollution in Kathmandu has further degraded the water resources (like river, pond, well, water spouts) to the level of extinction. The transformation of the Bagmati River into sewerage happened due to dumping of sewage and garbage into the rivers. And this took place due to lack of a well planned drainage system.

Such high level of pollution in the river has made aquatic life almost impossible and has thus naturally disturbed the ecosystem; not to mention the harmful chain reaction on the people living around the river area. Polluted rivers are home to many water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, and skin diseases, through which an epidemic can spread anytime. Due to high pollution, a man made disaster can take place any time in Kathmandu.

Rapid urbanisation, poor transport management and maintenance are leading to deteriorating air quality in the valley. The recent report published by Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MoEST) states that the amount of particulate matter in the air in Kathmandu is gradually increasing in the last one year, leading to poor air quality. The concrete jungle that Kathmandu has now become, lacks enough greenery which could have absorbed some carbon dioxide.

This has happened due to significant increase in the number of vehicles in the valley, narrow and poorly maintained road network, and poor physical condition of vehicles. Earlier, the government had launched programmes like introducing environment friendly Safa Tempo, ban on polluting brick kilns, mass awareness and strict monitoring policies to control deteriorating air quality. Unfortunately, it has stopped now.

Envisioning a clean environment of the valley, many organizations have been vigorously working for long time. Some campaigns like Save the Bagmati River System have also been launched but they have not been successful. Maybe, it lacks coordination among the various agencies working along similar lines.

The root of problems behind the environmental chaos of Kathmandu, it seems goes back to the policy levels. There is a need of high level coordination and consensus building among various agencies. However, the importance of community empowerment and sensitisation campaign for a clean Kathmandu cannot be ruled out.