KATHMANDU: As high as 38 metric tonnes of garbage was collected from various major rivers and ring road areas in Kathmandu Valley on Saturday.

Around 16 metrics tonnes of solid waste was managed from the Gusinggal area of Naya Pul at Tripureshwar while cleaning the Bagmati River as the part of the Bagmati River Clean-Up campaign that entered the 217th week today.

The highlight of the event was the attendance of Minister for Urban Development Prabhu Shah in the cleaning of the the holy river Bagmati.

Minister Shah pointed out the need for employing technology in the cleaning drive for enhancing the efficiency of the cleaning. He also urged for similar drive for other rivers in the country.

The Minister also spoke of the need to consider management of sewage and curbing the encroachment of public land for Bagmati River to be clean.

More than 700 people from various walks of life and different government agencies including secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development, Dipendranath Sharma, participated in the event.

Similarly, around 100 volunteers representing Pudasaini Maitri Samaj and Ramro Jorpati Hamro Jorpati campaign extracted two metric tonnes of solid waste from the Pahelo Pul stretch at Gothatar as the clean up drive launched by the Samaj entered 178th week today.

Likewise, one metric tonnes of solid waste was extracted by the Til Ganga Women Group from the Til Ganga Hospital area.

Meanwhile, the Rudramati Clean-Up Campaign, which is into its 176th week, managed one metric tonnes of garbage from Ratopul to Setopul area. More than 200 volunteers partook in the event.

Also, around 150 volunteers extracted two metric tonnes of solid waste from the Bishnumati River, one of the tributaries of the Bagmati River, as a part of its 148th clean-up drive. The drive was launched in the New Buspark area in the Capital city.

Campaigners, as a part of 13th week of Ring Road Clean-Up drive also cleaned ring road area in and around Samakhushi area and Gonggabu area and managed some 15 metric tonnes of trashes.

The cleanup drive launched by Sakaratmak Matri Samaj Awaj at Aloknagar in Min Bhawan scooped out one metric tonnes of solid waste.