BAJURA, APRIL 24

The Karnali River is becoming polluted as garbage from villages and market places of Bajura, Humla, Mugu, Achham, and Dailekh, among other places, is thrown into the river in huge amounts.

Locals said that the river was being polluted due to improper garbage management. The market was established after the road was constructed in the Karnali corridor.

Civil Society leader Pradip Raj Joshi said foul smell was emanating from the garbage thrown in the river. He said that garbage was thrown into the river from the market place due to lack of landfill site.

Swamikartik Rural Municipality Information Officer Kuber Shahi said that the river had become a dumping site. He added that locals, who were dependent on the river water for washing and bathing, were facing problems as the river was littered with bottle bits.

A businessman in Jagannath Rural Municipality Megh Raj Shahi said there was no one to manage the garbage.

He added that the local government had planned nothing even though people migrated to different places of the Karnali corridor.

The Karnali corridor is a 145-kilometre stretch from Lalu of Kalikot to Sarisalla of Humla.

There are more than two dozen markets in the corridor. The Nepali Army team had constructed the corridor. Many people have migrated to bazaar areas after the road expansion.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.