National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

BIRGUNJ
Environmental Dilemma

The industrial capital of Nepal is struggling to manage the solid waste it produces

By AKSHAY SHARMA in Birgunj

Known as the industrial capital of Nepal, Birgunj lies some 250km south of Kathmandu, close to the border with India. One of the biggest metropolises in Nepal, it continues to grow amid a rapid influx of people from other parts of country. However, Birgunj has yet to come up with a proper landfill site to manage the industrial and household wastes the city of 1.5 million people produces each day.

The environmental concerns sparked by this grim reality are exacerbated by the recent World Bank report on the Clean Air Initiative 2003. "There is a three-kilometer long smog that lies in the atmosphere of South Asia," the report says. While the full implications of such international alerts remain unclear to many Birgunj residents, they are enough to alarm Hari Narayan Chowdhary.

"The authorities have not yet come up with a feasible drainage facility for a rapidly urbanizing and industrializing place," Chowdhary says. "There seems to be no authority to control the hazardous toxics emitted by industrial power plants. The officials seem unconcerned about banning old vehicles that emit so much carbon monoxide fumes. The list goes on. All of this is seriously affecting the health of the people," he says.

Experts agree with such public concerns. "The population of Birgunj has increased annually by 5.4 percent. As more people continue to arrive in the city each year, the need for proper solid waste management cannot be overemphasized," Ashok Shah of the Department of Solid Waste Management told SPOTLIGHT.

The metropolis has an annual income of about Rs.120 million, but virtually none of that money has gone into finding a proper dumping or landfill site. This has added to the city's hygiene problems and raised the risk of environment-related diseases.

Plastics, non-bio-degradable ingredients used in making pan, chat, and items generated from households, shops, hotels, restaurants, industrial plants, nursing homes and health clinics are found littered on roadside and alleys. An estimated 20 tons of toxic wastes are generated in Birgunj on a daily basis.

Authorities deny accusations of willful ignorance. "An amount of Rs.203.6 million has been set aside for fiscal year 2059 to 2060 to combat the crisis generated by toxic wastes," says Sabhi Bikram Shah, who works with the metropolis unit dealing with proper disposal and management of waste.

"The metropolis has employed 120 people to curtail this problem in the wards and 200 people, equipped with 12 tractors, are tasked with collecting the waste every day," Shambhu Gupta, who is on the solid waste management team created to combat the problem, told SPOTLIGHT.

"Due to the lack of manpower, we are only able to collect and deal with 80 percent of the waste produced," he adds. "But as there is no proper dumping site or processing centers, these wastes are dumped in public places, road sides and in holes dug in government land," he adds. The hazardous wastes rotting in public places have been a breeding ground for cholera, diphtheria, diarrhea, and other infectious diseases.

Doctors face the fallout. "More than half of the patients that come to the hospital suffer from breathing problems like asthma and ailments relating to their stomach and the heart," says Dr. Nimesh Shrestha of Birgunj Hospital. The deteriorating situation has stirred calls for action.

Some residents blame the lack of national environmental laws for Birgunj's plight and call for greater attention from the government in Kathmandu. Others demand greater action from city authorities. The consensus is on speeding up the search and development of a proper dumping site.