Oped»
Down the drain
JAN 10 -
In the good old days when Kathmandu valley had just about 5 to 10 percentage of today’s populace, it had a modest sewage “disposal” system, some of which is still functional. The original disposal system possibly evolved around the outlets channel of dhungedharas (stone spouts) for obvious reasons. These were fed into water courses like Tukucha, Bishnumati and Bagmati. The volume of water-flow in the valley streams used to be robust even during dry seasons. Therefore, the small amount of sewage mix apparently did not make much of an impact.
Places without such sewage connections had waste carried off on kharpans as the human excreta provided “potent” nutrients to the vegetables grown around the urban core. No wonder Kathmandu grew huge sized kaaulis and dukus then! Those who could afford it had the waste channelled “unproductively” into an underground pit instead.
With the advent of piped water supply and rise in overall consciousness and affluence, the construction of “flush” toilets became the norm. The water supply could not keep pace with the increasing demand as population and land prices spiralled up unabated. The uncontrollable growth has turned Kathmandu into a giant octopus where constant chaos and disorder in every aspect of urban life have become inseparable.
The government body dealing with water supply and sewerage did initiate projects to improve both essential aspects in order to create a decent urban environment. On the water supply side, the effort was totally outstripped given the increasing demand for the precious liquid. The question still remains if Melamchi will make any difference, provided that it gets completed.
On the sewerage disposal side, some works were done to lay a network of new sewer pipes channelling these into huge oxidation ponds so that aerobic action helped convert filthy sewage into a cleaner liquid to be fed into the rivers. Lands were acquired at appropriate sites for construction of the ponds. While Patan’s sewage flowed into Kodkhu (near Balkumari, Patan) the effluents from Kathmandu had to be pumped up. It has been many years since both the projects were completed. The Kodkhu plant is said to be rendered unfit while the other, outside the ring road near Bagdol, has remained dysfunctional for over a decade.
What happens to the land thus acquired with much bureaucratic enthusiasm, now that both projects have failed? Can we expect to hear official reason behind all that has happened? The total land area works out to about 28 hectares (550 ropani), and were forcibly acquired. It is a sad example of efforts gone down the drain, cascading down from its glorified planning to utter failure. What a pity: while the revered valley streams have been turned into obnoxious sewers, the oxidation ponds are wallowing dry in the winter sun!
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