Kathmandu, November 5:

Efforts to reduce pollution in the sacred Bagmati river are expected to take pace with a fresh vigour after the government approves the programme concerning the cleaning of the river and its tributaries, an official of the Bagmati Improvement Project said today.

“The work will begin within this fiscal once our programme is approved by the government,” Anil Bhadra Khanal, acting project manager of the Bagmati Improvement Project, said.

New hopes arose on Bagmati clean-up after the government allocated Rs 33 billion for the

project through the budget speech.

“The original plan to construct parks on the riverbanks, as envisioned by the United Nations, will also be taken up anew,” Khanal added.

The project has divided the 27-km river into different segments and is planning to launch improvement work in different phases. The work on the seven km stretch from Gokarna to Tilganga will be carried out in this fiscal year.

The project is planning to construct sewerage line along both sides of the river from where the liquid wastes will be transferred to treatment plants in Balkumari or Sundarighat.

Khanal added that the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) had signed a memorandum with the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilisation to clean up the river.

“The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has also agreed to provide financial support to the project. A new action plan is being prepared and it will be made public by the end of this month. Then we will finalise our further activities,” he added.

Saying that it was a responsibility of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to manage solid wastes,

Khanal emphasised the need to foster coordination between the two organisations to manage solid wastes.

Some 50 organisations are working together on this project, Khanal said, adding that they will also try to mobilise 27 local community groups to clean the river. “The lack of suitable alternatives for solid waste disposal is still a major issue for the Bagmati improvement work. But we alone can’t do anything. We can only put pressure on the government,” he added.

Khanal also said that managing the squatters residing along the banks of the river was another major obstacle to the implementation of the project.