• J ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION I N N E P A L -----A REVIEW OF STUDIES----- -. :-.EPAL NATIO"<AL CONSERVATION STRATEGY l'\1PLEMENTATION PRGRA~l\IE 'llATIONAa.. l'LANNINGCOMMISSION, HMG NEPAL, IN COLLABORATION WITH IUCN-TRE WORLD CONSERVATION UNlON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NEPAL A REVIEW OF STUDIES NATIO!'i.\L CONSERVATION STRATEGY lMPLElllF.NTATJON PROGRAMM£ NATIONAL PLAN!\ING COM.MISSION, UMG NEl'Al., IN COL1.ABORA110N WlTll JUCN • TJIB WORLD CONSERVATION UNION This Review, prepared as part or the Nntlonal Coaserwllon S1roaegy lmplcmem.auon Prosromme, wns wriuen by Jeremy Can:w-Retd, Ajay Pradhan and Christina Moore with technical advice.from Ram B. Khudk.a, Jny Smith and Jooordao Pandey and 8Sl;l5liJnce rrom Mndhur Sbrestlta, Nablnu Shr•Slh• andAngellneAckermons. Tt WM edited and produced by Premeew Jomsons-Sannon, SooJJ Shr~thrl, Nabln Shrcstba, Su be ma Moktnn, Lo~ ng Chomjoog Sherpa and Reklul Raf or the NPC/IUCN NCS Programme. Voluble cooperation W& n:eelvcd during the Uu:rnture survey rrom A.R. Joshi ortbe NatlOnal Planning Commission, T .M. Pmdbanangn or RONAST,Purusbourun Shrcs1ha and T.P. Tunsina of 1bc !!nvaronmemnJ Coosetvatiort Group, Batu Uprcty or the Dcpanment or Soil Conservation and Watet5bcd Management and Rmlwl Shrestba and Amarcsb Karmactiaa;oa oLENPHO/DISVL The paper used for the cover or this publication is a product or Bhaktapur Qafi Printers, Nepal, and Is haodmade from tbe ba.rkof the LokJa (Ouphne) shrub. Paper for prlnalng of the text is manufactured bY Bhrlkuti Paper Mills, Nepal, from sabai grass. rice and when• straws. Pnnters: Jecwan Prin1ing Suppon Pre..., 'Kathmandu, Nepal Published by: NPCJIUCN NCS Implementation Progromme an August 1991 Tcchmcal assistance provided by IUCN to the Nllll0tl31 Con.servauon Strategy Tmplemcntauon Programme is supported by tbc Swiss Development Cooperation. For more detailed lnformatklll regarding IUCN or activitlcS under lhe National Cooserv.uion Strategy Implementation l'rogrammc, coo1oct: I UCN Senior Advisor Chief NCS rmplcmenrntion Programme Environment & Resource Conscrvntlon DMSion P.O. Box3923 NetloMI PL1nning Commission Kathmandu, Nepal P.O. Box 1284 TelepbOne: (977 I) 521506, 526391 Kathmandu, Nepal l'ax: (977 1) 521506, 226820 Telephone: (9771) 228200 E!.ICI. 252 Telcx:2566HOHILNP Fiu; (9TI l) 226500 CONTENTS Page I UST OF SELECTED ACRONYMS NATIONAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY v IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME SUMMARY Ix MAP I: SITES OF POLLUTION STUDIES xiv MAP II: KATHMANDU ANO ITS ENVIRONS xv WATER POLLUTION 1 Drinking Water Pollution 1 Kathmandu 2 Bacterial Composition 2 Chemical Composition 5 Pokhara 7 Biratnagar 7 Rural Areas B Groundwater Pollution 9 Kathmandu 10 Teral Areas 10 Surface Water Pollution 11 Bagmati River 11 Ph<iwa Lake 14 Impact of Industrial Effluent on Surface Water 15 Kathmandu Valley 15 Narayanl and Orahi Rivers 16 AIR POLLUTION 19 Industrial Emissions 20 ' Cement Industry 21 Leather Tanning Industry 22 Brick Factories 22 Pulp and Paper Industry 23 Sugar Miiis and Distilleries 23 Textile Mills 24 Cement Industry 24 Steel Industry 24 Automotive Vehicles 24 Indoor Biomass Combustion 26 Outdoor Biomass Combustion 29 LANO POLLUTION 31 Urben Solid Wastes 31 Rural Solid Wastes 33 Soll Pollution 34 Pesticides 34 Fertilisers and Irrigation Water 36 NOISE POLLUTION 37 Transport Noise 36 Industrial Noise 39 Community Noise 39 CONCLUSIONS 43 ANNEXES 47 Annex I: WHO International Standards for Drinking Water 47 Annex II: Tolerance Limits for Inland Surface Waters Receiving 48 Industrial Effluents In Nepal Annex Ill: Ambient Air Quality Standards In the USA 49 Annex IV: Maximum Permissible Noise Levels In the United Kingdom 50 Annex V: Noise Limits and Dally Exposure In the United Kingdom 51 REFERENCES 53 TABLES Table I. Colrtorm Contamlnahon ln Kathmandu Onnking Watet 4 Table II: Chemical Parameters ol Taps and Groundwater in Kathmandu 6 Table Ill: Bactenologlcal Oua111y ol Onnkeng Water 111 lllam 9 Table N: Total Coliform Contamination cl Village Water Source 9 Table V: Water Oualrty of the Bagmah Rrver System 12 Table VI: Road Traffic and Load In Kathmandu 26 Table VII: Air Panlculates In Kathmandu, Pokhara and Biratnagar 27 Table VUl:.Road Traffic Noise Level In Kathmandu 38 Table IX: lndusulal Noise Level 1n Nepal 40 Table X: Maximum Limits for Community Noise Level in Japan 41 LIST OF SELECTED ACRONYMS INSTITUTIONS ACAP Annapurna Conservation Area Project ADB Asian Development Bank BID Balaju Industrial District CBS Central Bureau of Statistics GEDA Centre for Economic DevelopmenLand Administration DISVI Dlsarmo e Sviluppo (Italian International Cooperation) EEC European Economic Community EISP Environmental Impact Study Project EN PHO Environment and Pupfjc Health Organisation FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation ' GTZ Deutsche Gesseflschaft !Or Technlsche Zusammenarbelt (German Technical Cooperation) HMG His Majesty's Government ICiMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ISC Industrial Services Centre (now, Economic.Services Centre·, ESEG) IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (now, IUCN - The World Conservation Union) NBSM Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology NPC National Planning Commission PID Patan Industrial District RO NAST Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology SWMRMC Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre UNCRD United Nations Centre for Regianal Development UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund WHO World Health Organisation WRJ World Resources Institute TECHNICAL TERMS ARI Acute Respiratory Infection BHC Benzene Hexa-Chlorlde BOD Biochemical Oxygen Demand CFCs Chlorofluorocarbons COD Chemical Oxygen Demand DDT Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloro Ethane DO Dissolved Oxygen EBI Extended Biotic Index ESP Electrostatic Preclpitator GNP Gross National Product pH Poten1ial of Hydrogen (expressed In terms of hydrogen ion concentration) PAN Peroxyacetyl Nitrate SPM Suspended Particulate Matter TOS Total Dissolved Solids TSP Total Suspended Particulates CHEMICAL FORMULAE Ag silver As arsenic Ca calcium CaC03 calcium carbonate Cd cadmium CH4 methane Ci chlroide Ciz chlorine co carbon monoxide H C02 carbon dioxide Cr chromium Cu copper Fe iron Fl lluoride Hg mercury HN03 n~ric acid H2S hydrogen sulphide H2S03 sulphurous acid H2S04 sulphuric acid K potassium Mg magnesium Mn manganese N nitrogen N2 nitrogen gas Na sodium NH3 ammonia NH3-N ammonia nitrogen NO nitric oxide N02 nitrite or nttrogen dioxide N02-N nitrite nitrogen NOJ nitrate or nitrogen trioxide N03-N nitrate nitrogen NO• nitrogen oxides N2') ni11ous oxide 02 oxygen gas 03 ozone p phosphorus Pb lead P04 phosphate Si02 slllcon dioxide S02 sulphur dioxide S03 sulphur trioxide Ill SOx sulphur oxides Zn zinc UNITS AND SYMBOLS cm centimetre dBA decibel ('A' - weighted) rt foot/feet g gram h hour kg kilogram kl kilolitre km kilometre litre m melre m3 cubic metre ms/, cubic metre per second mg milligram mg/I milligram per litre mg/(m2.h) mllllgrarm per cubic metre i;ier hour mgN/I milligram of nitrogen p.er litce mg P/1 milligram of phosptiorus per litre min minute ml mlllllilra mm millimetre mph miles per hour ppb parts per billlon ppm parts per mfllion s second t metric-tonnes g/I microgram per litre > greater than < less than Iv NATIONAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME The National Co·nservation Strategy (NCS) for Nepal was completed In 1987 and endorsed as policy In 1988. Nepal's NCS Is being Implemented through a seri!!S ot programmes in the key areas of enVlronmental planning and assessment, education and public infarmation. Coordinated by the National Planning Commission (NPC). the implementation pro9ramme involves representatives of all the major ministries and government departments concerned with envlronmental Issues, as well as an increasing number of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), The NCS was prepared and is being implemented with technical assistance from iUCN - The World Conservation Union. Nepal IS one of over 700 memb1lrs of llJCN, and is among mate. than 40 governments that have been assisted by IUCN in developing Nalional Conserva.tion Strategies. Founded ln 1948, IUCN is the largest professional world body wor~rng to con~erve the earth's soil, land, water, air and life systems. IUCN ls active in over 120 countries, and is a unique international agency whose memberstlip includes both gevernments and non-governmental organ·isations, providing them equal opportunity to work ti:>gelher to achieve effeotiv& conservation actiG>n. IUCN's aim is to establlsh a tangible link between development and the envirG>nment that will result in a lasting improvement in the quality of life of people all overtheworld. EDUCATION Under the NCS tor Nepal, a series of education and training proiects are being designed and implemented within the NCS Environmental Ed ucalloR Programme. These projeclS arm to v EtMronmontol Pollutlon In Nopal: A R<Mew enhance the coverage of existing environmental management and resource conservation subjects in formal and non-formal education programmes in Nepal. A National Environmental Education Conference will provide a forum at which consensus can be reached on Nepal's environmental education needs. Primary school curriculum Is a priority concern orthe programme. The Environmental Education in Primary Schools pilot project includes the preparation of model environmental curricula, revision and expansion of currenttextbooks and the development of associated resource materials. Teachers and students are being involved