Kathmandu, September 23:

The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW) has formed a high-level tasksforce to draw up a clear strategy for the conservation of the holy river, Bagmati. The taskforce is being coordinated by Senior Divisional Engineer of Department of Urban Development and House Construction, Kishor Thapa. Other members of the group are — Joint secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology Lok Darshan Regmi; legal officer of the Ministry of MPPW Sadhuram Sapkota; Dr Siddhartha Bajracharya of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation; Ramesh Jung Rayamahi of the UN Park Development Committee

and Kishor Shakya of the High Level Bagmati River Sewage Management Project. Coordinator of the three-month taskforce, Thapa said the aims are basically controlling land encroachment, checking the inflow of sewage, stopping dumping of solid waste and conservation of cultural heritage along the river banks.

“The terms of reference will be laid out in a week. We will develop a strategy for river conservation and institutionalise the responsibility of each of the concerned government or non-government organisations in particular areas of the river conservation, which itself has become a very vast subject,” he said. The coordinator of the task force added that the conservation of the river was crucial, now that King Gyanendra himself has emphasised checking of the river pollution in his directives to administrators. “Still, we cannot imagine bringing back the Bagmati of four decades ago. We have to be realistic and save the Bagmati of today,” he said. He also said that in initial stages, the task force would focus on cleaning the Bagmati river from the Pashupati temple area to Chobhar.