The week of March 23-26, 1998 I presented a series of social commentaries on Kathmandu municipality’s efforts to rehabilitate, clean and beautify areas around the two heavily-polluted and neglected rivers in the city: Bishnumati and Bagmati.
* * * * * * * *
Monday, March 23
[Opening jingle]
Hey… awe right….
I’m back with Marlboro Music Network here on the one and only Kantipur FM. And this is Dorje.
This hour I have James, Whitesnake, Celine Dion, Led Zeppelin and Spice Girls, to name a few, coming your way.
In addition, I have something else to share with you. So stick around.
Here, to begin with, are…
[Music break]
…. I’m sure you have heard of measures that are “too little too late,” like measures to get the economy going, or political measures to stabilize the government, or measures to curve or check pollution levels etc. Some such measures might work, or might be too little and come too late and so not help the cause at all!
But have you heard of measures that are too much but not sufficient? Curative or preventative measures that are too much but not sufficient?
I have. But before that here are…
[Music break]
…. The issue is of measures that are too much and yet not sufficient, not enough. Here’s by way of introduction: Yesterday was World Water Day and I talked a little about the big number of people in Nepal that die because of lack of safe drinking water.
A significant proportion of the population here don’t have access to proper sanitation either. The measures in question has something to do with water and sanitation in Kathmandu.
But before that…
[Music break]
…. According to many Sukumbasis [squatters] along the banks of Bishnumati and Bagmati, until about 8 years ago — just a little before a democratic form of government was instituted — the water in those rivers had been so clean that they used it for everything, from watering their gardens to washing their clothes and even to drinking it and cooking with it!
And that was only eight years or so ago. Unbelievable huh!!
The situation now as you and I know is different, very different!
Time for…
[Music break]
…. And what is the relationship between the two rivers and those settled along their banks now? As you might have guessed it’s nothing like what it used to be eight years ago. That doesn’t tell the whole story of the two rivers though.
The story after…
[Music break]
…. I am sure it comes as no surprise to you that the two rivers, Bagmati and Bishnumati, which at one time must also have supported a thriving water ecology with dozens of different aquatic creatures and plants, in recent studies were found to support only a very few species of fish and aquatic plants.
The main culprit? The raw sewage dumped directly into them.
Just walk over any of the numerous bridges over either of the rivers and see if you can stand the stench. I can’t!
This calls for….
[Music break]
I have talked at length about the present condition of the rivers and stated that raw sewage is mainly to blame. The rivers no doubt are heavily polluted and need to be rehabilitated. And the measures taken by the municipality to try improve the conditions of the rivers and their banks is what is too much and yet not sufficient.
More about that tomorrow as it is time for me, Dorje, to sign off. Stay tuned for Udaya Shree Top Ten with Savita.
[Closing jingle]
Tuesday, March 24
[Opening jingle]
Hey… awe right….
Time once again for another edition of Marlboro Music Network here on the one and only Kantipur FM. And this is Dorje.
Like always I have some great music coming your way, and I’ll also be talking about Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers, a topic carried over from yesterday.
[Music break]
…. So, the current state of Bishnumati and Bagmati rivers is pathetic, sad, revolting, disgusting, and a lot more.
And yesterday I identified raw sewage dumped directly into these rivers as the culprit responsible for their current state.
What the concerned authorities, the municipality is doing, the measures they are taking to check the level of pollution, to control the further pollution of the rivers and to rehabilitate — to improve the rivers — I characterized as too much and yet not sufficient.
More about that after….
[Music break]
…. To understand why the situation of the rivers is what they are, we must go back in time…to the mid-seventies…to 1976 when the first sewage treatment plants and a network of sewers in the city were conceived and the World Bank provided the loan for it.
Though everything — laying of sewers and setting up of treatment plants in all three cities within the valley — was completed by the early eighties, currently none of the plants — I repeat, none of the plants — in Kathmandu are functional. There’s more where this came from.
But take….
[Music break]
…. And something very ridiculous happened between the time when the plants ceased to function (probably only a couple years after the plants commenced operation) and today: the municipality turned a blind eye to the problem in spite of assistance from the World Bank!!
When the World Bank realized there were problems with the treatment plants and the sewers, they approved more loans to fix them — a seven-year 10 million US dollar loan.
But — and this is the ridiculous part — the concerned authorities made no effort to put that money to use, to fix the plants and the sewers!
And that’s not all!
But here are a couple….
[Music break]
…. Continuing with the ridiculous thing that happened, rather something that didn’t happen…. When the World Bank realized nothing was being done they slashed the loan from 10 million to 3.2 million dollars. The seven year period by the way is almost over — a month or two is all that is left.
Even until six months ago, the municipality, it appears, had done nothing about the plants!
And so, all the time since the plants broke down years ago, raw sewage has been going directly into the rivers of Kathmandu.
And no points for guessing where the loan money themselves might have gone!
But it’s time for….
[Music break]
…. The municipality is not as ineffective as I have painted them to be. They have recently started doing a few other things about — and along the banks of — the rivers. And that will be tomorrow’s topic. Tomorrow at seven. Do not forget to join me then.
As it’s almost 8, I am signing off with [artist and name of song]. Stay tuned for Love Line with Dr. Love, Rajani.
This is Dorje bidding you good night.
[Closing jingle]
Wednesday, March 25
[Opening jingle]
Hey…awe righty….
Here I go again, rather here I come again with another hour of Marlboro Music Network here on the one and only Kantipur FM. And this is Dorje.
Carrying over the topic I introduced Monday…yesterday in closing I hinted at the municipality not being as ineffective as I made them out to be. It has done a few things to improve the conditions of the rivers. And those things it has done, the programs and projects it has implemented lately, is what I will be talking about this hour.
But before that here’s….
[Music break]
…. Some of things the municipality has done recently are: build public toilets and bathrooms along the Bishnumati banks; evacuate some of the squatter settlements along the banks of both Bagmati and Bishnumati; plough and neatly pack the sandy banks of Bishnumati; build retaining walls also along the banks of Bishnumati; and prepare a section of the Bagmati bank for a UN park.
And what’s wrong with all of that? I’ll get to that after the next couple of songs….
[Music break]
…. So what’s wrong with all that the municipality has done and is doing?
To begin with, the bathrooms stand out like sore-thumbs — they look like a modernized version of the centuries old sacred Hindu temples also along the banks and, in some cases, right next to these very bathrooms. The bathrooms appear to be more of an attraction than the temples themselves and other structures in the area.
But I’ll bet you, negligence within the next several months will render them useless, as has been the fate of most public bathrooms in the city.
Not only that, the waste from the bathrooms will also end up in…the rivers!!
Time for….
[Music break]
…. To continue with the problems the programs the municipality has implemented….
Evacuation of squatter settlements, anyone visiting the banks, will be able to see won’t contribute much to the improvement of the rivers and their banks per se.
And what’s the idea behind ploughing and re-packing the dirty and heavily polluted sandy earth in the Dallu area?! And the retaining walls?!
All short-term measures to control flooding.
And the UN park? I’ll get back to that after…
[Music break]
…. Bagmati seems to have been spared such make-overs. It awaits a bigger and better project — I’m talking about the UN Park of course.
The details are sketchy. From what I understand, the plan calls for the use of about 3.6 km of the northern bank in the Shankamul area, most of the space reclaimed from the the river bed itself.
The price tag and where the funds will come from? Stay tuned.
In the mean time, here are a couple….
[Music break]
…. The cost, as estimated by the planners, is a whopping 34 Crore rupees [over US$3.5 million]! That’s almost a crore rupees for every hundred meters!
And where does the municipality expect such money to pour in from? Even they themselves do not seem to be sure of.
One hope is the UN itself! Though no funds have been committed by neither the UN nor any other such organization, the municipality has already started the project.
More about that after….
[Music break]
…. The park in question is just upstream from the Bagmati bridge. There is this area enclosed within barbed wire fence behind the Prasuti Griha, the maternity hospital. And the entrance to the fenced off area is a metallic gate with the inscription “UN Park.”
With that I must wrap up this hour. More about this tomorrow at seven. Stay tuned for I Love It/I Hate It with Bimal and Savita.
[Closing jingle]
Thursday, March 26
[Opening jingle]
Hey…awe righty….
I’m back for the last time this week. You are tuned into Marlboro Music Network here on the one and only Kantipur FM. And this is Dorje.
This hour I have some great music and I will also be wrapping up the spiel on the measures the municipality has taken to improve the current state of the rivers, Bagmati and Bishnumati, a topic I introduced Monday.
This is becoming like one of those never-ending TV series!
Anyway, I will finally share with you why I believe what the municipality has done is too much and yet not sufficient. So stay tuned. But first, here’s….
[Music break]
…. A UN Park along the Bagmati bank will contribute very little to improve the pathetic state of the river.
The logic seems to be this: if a recreational park is built along the bank with trees, cycling, walking, jogging, and picnicking areas and what not, they will (somehow magically?) help in the rehabilitation of the river.
But of course it is not so much what is and/or what is not along the banks of the rivers that is responsible for the current state of the rivers. When will the municipality see that?
More about that later….
[Music break]
…. Continuing with the commentary….
The question now is why are all these projects too much? Why are these measures too much?
They are too much because they call for the expenditure of a lot of loan money (from the Asian Development Bank in the case of Bishnumati) and expenditure of a lot of time and effort. The measures are too much because most of them are inappropriate and misguided.
I suggest you go visit the bathrooms along Bishnumati if nothing else. These measures do not address the central problem.
Before going on, here’s….
[Music break]
The central problem is sewage.
As long as the sewage treatment plants are not fixed, raw sewage will be dumped into the rivers and the rivers will continue to remain polluted regardless of everything done along their banks. As the measures do not address the problems of sewage treatment and disposal, these measures are not sufficient; they will NOT be sufficient.
All is not lost however. More about that after the next couple of songs. ….
[Music break]
…. Hope! I mean hope is something I haven’t lost.
I hope the laying down of bigger capacity sewers at various locations in the city is also complemented by the fixing of the treatment plants. They didn’t do that when they had the opportunity a few years ago, when the World Bank approved that loan.
Anyway, the point is: if nothing else, one can always hope that someone will come along and do it right. That someone with the political will to get it right will because, as with a lot of others things in Nepal, it’s got more to do with politics than anything else.
Moving on to the next song….
[Music break]
…. Okay, it’s time for me to vacate this studio. Time for Steve and Coca Cola Party Night. That’s it for me this week.
Tomorrow and Saturday Samrat will be back as always to play your requests and read out your dedications. Join me again Sunday evening at seven. This is Dorje bidding you good night.
And have a great weekend.
[Closing jingle]
* * * * * * * *
References:
Rademacher, Anne. Restoration and Development: Landless Migrants and Urban River Management in the Bagmati Basin, Kathmandu, Nepal (pdf), the article. Reigning the river : urban ecologies and political transformation in Kathmandu. I worked as her assistant interviewing Sukumbasis (squatters) along the two river banks, during research she conducted in 1997.
The Himalayan (Oct. 2006). Nine years on, UN Park project still in limbo.
Nepal Mountain News (March 2015). Seven parks under construction on Bagmati riverbanks.
Sangesh.com.np (Dec. 2008). Where is the land of the holy River Bagmati A blog post, by a Nepalese living in the area, about the area where the UN park was slated to be built. It contains photos of the area from about that time.
Bagmati Action Plan (2009-2014) (pdf). Yet another document purportedly about how to rehabilitate the rivers!
Details of UN Park in Gusingal.
Details of UN Park in Jwagal.
The Kathmandu Post (Oct. 2013). Not just down the drain. Almost fifteen years since those episodes were aired, NOTHING appears to have changed. The Op-ed starts off thus: “There is an urgent need to abandon conventional approaches and adopt appropriate alternatives to wastewater management in Nepal like the DEWATS.” And continues, “Nepal is experiencing the fastest rate of urbanisation in South Asia even as wastewater emerges as one of the biggest challenges for urban areas. Virtually all household and industrial wastewater is discharged into rivers without any form of treatment.” [Edit: Added to the list on March 30, 2017.]
