Nepal, Kathmandu: squatters seek NGO help to defeat river pollution

Updated - Monday 15 December 2008

Squatters in Narayan tole in Kathmandu, have called in local and international NGOs to help them deal with pollution from the nearby Samakhusi River. They used to suffer from diarrhoea, dysentery and other water-related diseases, and the smell from the river was unbearable.

So they decided to do something about it. They called in Lumanti, a NGO working in the slum areas, and with financial and technical assistance from WaterAid and UN-HABITAT, they built two wastewater treatment plants (septic tanks with upflow bio-filters). The toilets in 28 households, which previously discharged their waste directly in to the river, are now connected to these plants. The plants trap the solid waste and discharge clean water into the river. The squatters use decomposed solid waste as fertiliser.

'Every planner can learn a lesson from the initiative of the Narayan tole squatter community,' says Lajana Manandhar, executive director of Lumanti. 'If all households build small plants, then we can clean up the polluted rivers of Kathmandu without having to wait for donors.'

Related news: Nepal: Ecosan toilets improve quality of life and of river water, Source South Asia, 17 Sep 2008.

Web sites: Lumanti; WaterAid - Nepal; UN-HABITAT - Water for Asian Cities - Nepal

Source: The Kathmandu Post / NGO Forum, 02 Dec 2008