 |
Dozens of people line the banks of the Bagmati River, which flows through Kathmandu city, the capital of Nepal. Wearing gloves and plastic boots, their faces covered with masks, volunteers collect heaps of garbage from the river and carry it into a nearby truck. Truck after truck is filled with the collected garbage.This is a familiar sight every Saturday in Kathmandu, says Pashupati Neupane, a youth activist who has helped with the cleanups nearly every week since they began in 2013.”While cleaning up the river as a group, we get a satisfaction that drives away the stench of the Bagmati,” Neupane, 31, says.The Bagmati River is an important source of water, as well as a religious and cultural symbol in Nepal. But garbage and sewage pollute the river, making it stagnant and bringing disease to those living on its banks.
The Bagmati River Cleanup Campaign, initially a joint effort between 30 government and nongovernment groups with a focus on the Bagmati, now counts 2,000 organizations as its partners, including 400,000 people who have signed on to help clean four rivers in the Kathmandu Valley, says Purushottam Kanel. Kanel is part of the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization, the state-appointed management committee for the river.
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment