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| Kathmandu Monday April 08, 2002 Chaitra 26, 2058. |
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Urban
water quality continues to deteriorate as ‘stringent’ laws gather dusts
By Surendra Phuyal
KATHMANDU, April 7 : It
is not just the potable drinking water supplied to the residents of the capital city that
has been found polluted or contaminated for drinking purpose. Now, with the rivers flowing
from the heart or periphery of such large cities like Kathmandu, Bharatpur and Birgunj
continually exposed to human and industrial activities, groundwater aquifers in these
cities, too, are becoming polluted.
Haphazard and unplanned
urbanisation, thanks largely to uncontrolled growth in the human population, combined
together with the increasing industrial activities, is posing a serious threat to the
ecosystems of such pristine rivers as the Bagmati, the Narayani and the Sirsiya, experts
said here Sunday citing recent studies.
Equally threatened are
the lakes like the Phewa. Situated in the heart of the picturesque city of Pokhara in
western Nepal. The Phewa Lake traditionally serves as a dumping ground for not only liquid
but also solid wastes discharged by the city’s industries and residents.
More alarmingly, the
recent phenomenon is beginning to take its toll also on the cities’ diminishing
groundwater resources. Recent studies have shown that even the ground water
aquifers—both shallow and deep—are contaminated with toxic chemicals like
ammonia and nitrates, according to Dr Roshan Raj Shrestha, an expert with the Environment
and Public Health Organisation (ENPHO).
"The trend is
increasing, and the septic tanks and sewer drains that the city authorities and the people
unscrupulously discharge into the rivers are the chief culprits," he said. According
to him, the load of pollution in the rivers (like the Bagmati and the Narayani) increased
by between six to ten times in the past one decade period.
At stake is not just
the sources of drinking water of the hundreds of thousands of people, but also the health
of these people and the biodiversity that thrive in the periphery of these rivers or
lakes, according to experts.
Experts and officials
participating at a panel discussion on "urban water pollution: issues and control
measures" here on Sunday called for efforts to enforce or implement existing the laws
that discourage such practices and action- or master-plans that envision better-planned
cities.
For instance, "a
master-plan was drawn up a few years ago to develop Kathmandu in a planned and integrated
way, but it was never implemented," conceded Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, the Secretary
at the Ministry of Housing and physical Planning.
The list of such
master- or action-plans currently gathering dusts in the officialdom is long, if the
officials’ statements are anything.
Apparently a result of
the non-enforcement or non-implementation, the officials said, the problem is turning from
bad to worse in such large cities like Kathmandu, Narayanghat (Bharatpur), Pokhara and
Birgunj, while dozens of other smaller towns around the country, are heading for the
public health crisis.
While the problem is
gradually becoming chronic in the Narayani river near Narayanghat, in the Sirsiya river
near Birgunj and in the Phewa Lake in Pokhara, the officials admitted that it is already
worse in Kathmandu Valley, where the Bagmati and its smaller tributaries have literally
turned into open sewers.
"Much like the
industries, the Valley (of nearly 2 million) residents have a tendency to discharge their
sewers or septic tank wastes into the nearby rivers," said Dr. "Though an
irrational one, the tendency is unabated and unchecked."
According to Janak Raj
Joshi, a Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE), out of the
4,271 industrial establishments around the country, 72 percent are concentrated in the
capital city. Most of them discharge untreated water into the river.
However, the existing
laws—such as the Environment Protection Act and the Environment Protection
Regulations of 2053/54 BS, Water Resources Act 2049, Drinking Water Regulations
2055—bar the city residents and industries from discharging untreated sewage drains
into the river.
So stringent are the
legal provisions that the Environment Protection Act provides for the closure of
industries that discharge untreated effluent into the river. "But we have not been
able to enforce it," admitted MOPE Joint Secretary Joshi.
There is more. An
action-plan was prepared by an Australian firm to construct storm water drains in the
capital city a few years ago, said Secretary Pyakurel, but it was never implemented and is
gathering dust. "If we can enforce the laws and implement the plans we have, then
bulk of the problem would be resolved in a few years," he added.
The problem of potable
drinking water contamination, in the capital city is a different story altogether.
Kaushal Nath Bhattarai,
the General Manager at the Nepal Drinking Water Supply Corporation (NWSC), the state-owned
water utility, said the capital’s over-a-century-old water supply network needs to be
rehabilitated at the earliest. "The pipelines in the core areas of the capital are
full of cracks and leaks, and hence can break at any time, triggering a serious
epidemic," he warned.
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