Kathmandu, August 20
The House of Representatives’ Infrastructure Development Committee has directed the government to immediately control the discharge of sewage and wastewater into the Bagmati River and prepare an integrated plan for its conservation and revival.
The committee issued the directive during its meeting at Singha Durbar on Thursday.
Committee Chair Ashish Gajurel said the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had also been directed to clearly demarcate the river’s jurisdiction and take an integrated approach to controlling encroachment, protecting the river corridor and managing flood risks.
The committee has called for the Bagmati beautification programme to go beyond physical infrastructure and develop the river corridor as a green, open, pedestrian-friendly and citizen-friendly public space.
According to the committee’s decision, priority should be given to making the Bagmati clean by preparing a plan to immediately control all sewage and wastewater discharge into the river.
The committee also directed the government to integrate the river’s environmental restoration with its religious, cultural, historical and tourism heritage and develop the Bagmati as a “heritage river corridor.”
It called for a unified institutional mechanism with clearly defined responsibilities, regular monitoring and public accountability to ensure the long-term success of the programme.
The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has also been directed to allocate adequate funds for the clean Bagmati programme.
The committee said conservation, flood-risk management and development of the river corridor should be pursued through a coordinated approach rather than through isolated infrastructure projects.
