BISHNU PRASAD ARYAL
KATHMANDU: Eighteen organisations, including government agencies, organised a Bagmati cleanup programme at Shankhamul today.
Also today, organisers planted 500 saplings at Nagdaha of Lalitpur as part of programmes to mark the World Environment Day, which falls on
June 5.
Dr Sumitra Amatya, executive director of the Solid Waste Management Technical Support Centre (SWMTSC), says she got tired attending these programmes. “I’ve taken ill as I had to attend Bagmati cleanup and tree plantation programmes,” she says.
However, these kinds of rituals, conducted every year to mark the day, have done precious little on nature conservation and pollution control fronts at a time when environmental and sanitary conditions continue to get worse in urban areas as well as in villages. Neither the government agencies nor NGOs have bothered to study sanitary and environmental scenarios and prepare reports.
The world is celebrating the environment day this year with the theme Think.Eat.Save. The objective of the anti-food waste campaign is to reduce carbon footprints. Ironically, even programmes organised in the name of environment conservation contribute to pollution with participants disposing of waste haphazardly.
Needless to say, ritual campaigns, expensive rallies and tree plantation programmes that are organised every year in Nepal to mark the great day does little, though budget for such programmes runs into millions of rupees.
Environment expert DR Pathak says the impact of these campaigns in Nepal is negative. He points, “There is no system of monitoring, evaluating and keeping records of the environmental situation in the country.”
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Forests and Land Conservation, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Ministry of Urban Development, various government organisations, about a dozen international agencies and organisations and dozens of local NGOs have been working on the sanitation and environment sector.
The government does not have a proper record of the budget spent on the sector nor has it set parametres to assess the situation. Every year, people and organisations associated with environment conservation plant thousands of trees on public land in urban areas, but no one looks after them after plantation. “It is better to keep records of conserved plants rather than planting trees every year,” Amatya says. “Waste generation is on the rise, but it is not properly managed anywhere.”
Pathak says pollution and environmental mismanagement are on the rise. “Rivers are turning into sewers, streets and open places are full of plastics, and environment is full of contaminants,” he points. “In course of marking environment days, the organisers make the environment more polluted with their waste.”
“We have fallen behind in planning, monitoring and evaluation to achieve environment conservation targets,” Pathak goes. “For instance, if we plan for 10 years, we have to set a target for every two years and make two-yearly assessments,” he says. “No one is serious about environmental protection. Everyone is busy cashing in on the worsening situation.”
KATHMANDU: Eighteen organisations, including government agencies, organised a Bagmati cleanup programme at Shankhamul today.
Also today, organisers planted 500 saplings at Nagdaha of Lalitpur as part of programmes to mark the World Environment Day, which falls on
June 5.
Dr Sumitra Amatya, executive director of the Solid Waste Management Technical Support Centre (SWMTSC), says she got tired attending these programmes. “I’ve taken ill as I had to attend Bagmati cleanup and tree plantation programmes,” she says.
However, these kinds of rituals, conducted every year to mark the day, have done precious little on nature conservation and pollution control fronts at a time when environmental and sanitary conditions continue to get worse in urban areas as well as in villages. Neither the government agencies nor NGOs have bothered to study sanitary and environmental scenarios and prepare reports.
The world is celebrating the environment day this year with the theme Think.Eat.Save. The objective of the anti-food waste campaign is to reduce carbon footprints. Ironically, even programmes organised in the name of environment conservation contribute to pollution with participants disposing of waste haphazardly.
Needless to say, ritual campaigns, expensive rallies and tree plantation programmes that are organised every year in Nepal to mark the great day does little, though budget for such programmes runs into millions of rupees.
Environment expert DR Pathak says the impact of these campaigns in Nepal is negative. He points, “There is no system of monitoring, evaluating and keeping records of the environmental situation in the country.”
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Forests and Land Conservation, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Ministry of Urban Development, various government organisations, about a dozen international agencies and organisations and dozens of local NGOs have been working on the sanitation and environment sector.
The government does not have a proper record of the budget spent on the sector nor has it set parametres to assess the situation. Every year, people and organisations associated with environment conservation plant thousands of trees on public land in urban areas, but no one looks after them after plantation. “It is better to keep records of conserved plants rather than planting trees every year,” Amatya says. “Waste generation is on the rise, but it is not properly managed anywhere.”
Pathak says pollution and environmental mismanagement are on the rise. “Rivers are turning into sewers, streets and open places are full of plastics, and environment is full of contaminants,” he points. “In course of marking environment days, the organisers make the environment more polluted with their waste.”
“We have fallen behind in planning, monitoring and evaluation to achieve environment conservation targets,” Pathak goes. “For instance, if we plan for 10 years, we have to set a target for every two years and make two-yearly assessments,” he says. “No one is serious about environmental protection. Everyone is busy cashing in on the worsening situation.”
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