Bagmati River Problems Kaja Background Information

● The Bagmati River flows through the Valley in ● Flows through the middle of the city of Kathmandu ● Starts on the Shivapuri Ridge at 2,650 meters above sea level ● The Bagmati has 20 tributaries ● Flows to the and is considered holy The Issues

● Pollution/degradation (main problem) ○ Things being dumped in the river ■ Untreated sewage ■ Garbage (plastic waste, etc.) ■ Medical waste ■ Industrial waste (factories) ■ Agricultural waste (fertilisers/agro-chemicals) ○ Little to no government oversight of dumping procedures ○ Uncontrolled squatter settlements along the river bank ■ Contribute to the debris thrown in the river ○ Natural events ■ Landslides, floods ● Damage reservoirs and put pressure on water availability The Development of the Issues

● population increase from 410,950 in 1953 to 1,645,091 in 2001 ● Civil war caused people to move to the city and the focus was not on keeping the river clean, allowing it to become as degraded and polluted as it is ● Rapid urbanisation (led to squatters) ○ Increased demand for water ○ Urban areas have “expanded in a haphazard manner” (UNEP Kathmandu Valley Outlook Report) ○ More people = more agriculture, factories = more pollution ○ Agriculture needs irrigation and lot’s of water ○ More tourism = more hotels, groceries, restaurants, etc. ○ More people = more infrastructure ○ All of the above development requires water and threatens the water sources in the valley

Progress and Solutions

● All of these factors have put a huge strain on the Bagmati River ● Friends of the Bagmati

○ Aims to clean up the Bagmati and reverse degradation

through community action and involvement ○ Endorsed by Prince Philip ● Military project to clean up trash on the river banks by throwing it into the river ● Environment ministry programme to educate citizens and residents and industries has led to a decrease in waste disposal in the Bagmati river Work Cited http://www.unep.org/pdf/KathmanduValleyOutlook.pdf http://www.friendsofthebagmati.org.np/ http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1606456/can_the_kathmandu_valley_be_saved.html https://gshah.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/cleaning-up-bagmati/ http://en.people.cn/90001/90783/91321/7269638.html http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-04-12/over-100000-people-join-river-clean-up-drive.html http://www.watersecuritynetwork.org/phd-student-to-study-water-security-in-the-bagmati-river-basin/