KATHMANDU: With his persuasive essay about the current environmental problems of Nepal and solutions to mitigate them, ninth grader Rubin Luitel became the winner of the school-level environment essay contest.

Luitel from Bright Horizon Children’s Home School was announced the winner on August 11. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs 30,000.

Prabhash GC (Class X) from Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya and Abhinav Dev (Class X) from Budhanilkantha School won the second and third positions along with cash prizes of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

The contest, organised by Clean up Nepal and UNESCO education unit in Kathmandu, was held from June 5-20. Altogether 40 schools participated in the contest in which more than 1,700 students took part in the intra-school essay contest. They had to write an essay on the topic ‘Waste burning: Its impact and the role of youth to mitigate it’. Twenty best essays were selected from among 40 essays (one winning essay from each school) by the team of Clean up Nepal. And the top three winners were chosen by a panel of judges from among those 20 essays.

Students from classes VIII, IX and X had participated in the contest.

The winners also recited their essays at the event. While talking about environmental problems in narrative form, Luitel put forth solutions to mitigate them through reuse, recycle and disposal in his essay. Similarly, GC’s interactive essay satirised people who neglect the environment, wear mask, frown their noses while walking on roads, yet burn waste haphazardly. Dev’s essay in descriptive form dealt with environment pollution and ways of reducing solid waste.

As mentioned by the students in their essays, solid waste should be managed for a cleaner Nepal. And Chief guest Bishwa Mani Gyawali, Executive Director at Solid Waste Management Technical Support Center (SWMTSC), emphasised the need for implementation of solid waste management rules and regulations for the same.

Gyawali expressed, “Local body like Metropolitan City should punish people who throw solid wastes in their surroundings. There is Solid Waste Management Act 2068 to address such issues, but local bodies aren’t implementing it effectively. Unfortunately, SWMTSC can only monitor local bodies. We can’t punish the disobedient public.”

MSTale Nepal also staged a short play about waste management, and showcased a dance performance to Surke Thaili.