Nepal’s holy Bagmati River choked with black sewage, trash
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press
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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — High on a mountain in the Himalayas, pristine drops fall from the mouth of a tiger statue installed at a stream thought to form the headwaters of the Bagmati River, long revered as having the power to purify souls. From there it wends its way downhill past verdant forests and merges with other waterways, irrigating fields of rice, vegetables and other crops that are a livelihood for many Nepalese.
But as the Bagmati reaches the valley of Kathmandu, the capital, its color changes from clear to brown and then to black, choked with debris, its contents undrinkable and unsuitable even for cleaning. During the dry season, an overwhelming stench pervades the area by its banks.
Tainted by garbage and raw sewage that is dumped directly into the waterway, Nepal’s holiest river has deteriorated so greatly that today it is also the country’s most polluted, dramatically altering how the city of about 3 million interacts with the Bagmati on daily, cultural and spiritual levels.
In the capital, the Bagmati’s sludge oozes past several sacred sites, including the Pashupatinath Temple, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The sprawling complex comprises a golden-roofed main temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, surrounded by hundreds of smaller ones.
Hindus flock to the riverbanks in Kathmandu to worship at shrines and celebrate festivals. Women dip in the river to wash away sins during Rishipanchami, a day for worship of the seven sages revered as enlightened beings guiding humanity through the ages. Visitors also wade in during the festival of Chhath, praying to the sun god Surya. During Teej, married women come to pray for the health and prosperity of their husbands, and single women, to find a good one.
Families have long carried the bodies of deceased loved ones to these banks to wash the feet of the dead on a stone slab and sprinkle their faces with river water. Beliefs hold that that washes away a person’s sins and sends their soul to heaven before their physical remains are cremated atop heaps of wood, also alongside the river, and their ashes scattered into the waters.
People still bring departed loved ones to the Bagmati, but many no longer dare to have any contact with its contents. While the bodies are still cremated here, they’re cleansed with purified water bought in nearby stores.
“That is no more now. The water is so dirty and stinks. People are forced to bring bottled water and do the rituals,” 59-year-old Mithu Lama, who has been working with her husband at the Teku ghat cremation grounds since she married him at age 15, said on a recent day as she stacked wood for a funeral pyre.
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Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Men perform rituals on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Hindus flock to the Bagmati to worship at shrines and celebrate festivals. Women dip in the river to wash away sins during Rishipanchami, a day for worship of the seven sages revered as enlightened beings guiding humanity through the ages. Visitors also wade in during the festival of Chhath, praying to the sun god Surya. During Teej, married women come to pray for the health and prosperity of their husbands, and single women, to find a good one.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A woman sweeps outside her house next to a water pipeline from the Bagmati River in Sundarijaal, Nepal, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Friday, April 22, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A man looks at the Bagmati River, swelled by monsoon rains, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, July 27, 2022. A governmental committee set up to help clean the river is working on upstream dams where rainwater can be captured and stored during the monsoon season and released during the dry months to flush the river, moving waste downstream from Kathmandu.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A basket of garbage is stuck along the path of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, May 26, 2022. Madhukar Upadhya, a watershed expert who studies the river closely, says, "So much damage has already been done to it, that it can perhaps be cleaned to some degree but not restored to its past glory."
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A worker walks through the Guheswori Wastewater Treatment Plant, where some of the water from the Bagmati River water is treated before it reaches the Pashupatinath Temple, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, June 3, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Men work at a construction site on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A woman walks over drainage pipes that flow into the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Mala Kharel, an executive member of a governmental committee set up to help clean up the river, said that over the years the campaign has succeeded in collecting about 80% of garbage along the riverbank. But the pickup efforts admittedly fall short, in part since frequent disruptions to trash collection services encourage more dumping than they can keep up with.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A man collects water from the source of the Bagmati River to offer prayers at Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park north of Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, April 18, 2022. From here the river wends its way downhill past verdant forests and merges with other waterways, irrigating fields of rice, vegetables and other crops. But as the Bagmati reaches the valley of Kathmandu, its color changes from clear to brown and then to black, choked with debris, its contents undrinkable and unsuitable even for cleaning.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
The Bagmati River approaches Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Tainted by garbage and raw sewage that is dumped directly into the waterway, Nepal’s holiest river has deteriorated so greatly that today it is also the country’s most polluted, dramatically altering how the city of about 3 million interacts with the Bagmati on daily, cultural and spiritual levels.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
The polluted Bagmati River flows to an exit point from Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Tainted by garbage and raw sewage that is dumped directly into the waterway, Nepal’s holiest river has deteriorated so greatly that today it is also the country’s most polluted, dramatically altering how the city of about 3 million interacts with the Bagmati on daily, cultural and spiritual levels.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Drainage pipes empty into the Bishnumati River, a tributary of the Bagmati River, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, May 26, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Girls look at the Bagmati River, swelled by monsoon rains, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, July 27, 2022. A governmental committee set up to help clean the river is working on upstream dams where rainwater can be captured and stored during the monsoon season and released during the dry months to flush the river, moving waste downstream from Kathmandu.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Trash sits in the Bagmati River as it flows in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Workers walk through the Guheswori Wastewater Treatment Plant, where some of the water from the Bagmati River water is treated before it reaches the Pashupatinath Temple, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, June 3, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Mithu Lama, 59, rests near her house on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Born and raised next to the Bagmati, Lama recalls using its waters for cooking, bathing, washing and even drinking. Today that feels like a long-ago dream dashed by decades of dumping human waste and refuse, and one she doesn’t expect to see again anytime soon.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A woman walks near drainage pipes that empty into the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Men participate in a cleanup effort for the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, May 28, 2022. Mala Kharel, an executive member of a governmental committee set up to help clean up the river, said that over the years the campaign has succeeded in collecting about 80% of garbage along the riverbank. But the pickup efforts admittedly fall short, in part since frequent disruptions to trash collection services encourage more dumping than they can keep up with.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
The Bagmati River flows in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A man looks at the polluted Bagmati River from the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, April 25, 2022. The Bagmati’s sludge oozes past the temple, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979, and several other sacred sites in the city.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Bubbles form from the polluted water of the Bagmati River as it is processed at the Guheswori Wastewater Treatment Plant before it reaches the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, June 3, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
Garbage sits on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Mala Kharel, an executive member of a governmental committee set up to help clean up the river, said that over the years the campaign has succeeded in collecting about 80% of garbage along the riverbank. But the pickup efforts admittedly fall short, in part since frequent disruptions to trash collection services encourage more dumping than they can keep up with.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A woman prays on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
Niranjan Shrestha - stringer, AP
A man pushes cremated remains into the Bagmati River at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, May 28, 2022. The temple was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.
