The 204-kilometre-long river, flowing through Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park, stretches through eight districts. Revered as the link between heaven and earth, Hinduism and Buddhism consider the Bagmati holy.
These waterways don’t just flow through the landscape; they shape our history, culture, and identities. That’s why the people who call Kathmandu home aren’t just residents but members of the ‘Bagmati Civilisation’.
Once Sacred, Now Strangled by Pollution
Choking with alarming pollution, the Bagmati now poses significant threats to the environment, public health, and cultural heritage. The water that emerges from a lion-headed spout is pristine at its source. However, the river slows down and becomes more and more polluted as it passes through the forests and down through Sundarijal.
Over the years, industrial waste, untreated sewage, and rampant human activities have turned this once-pristine river into a symbol of environmental degradation.
The capital city's prosperity has come at a high cost to the river since it is treated more like an open sewer and less like a holy river. “Nearly 40 years ago, the Bagmati was almost clean. Over time, it became a dumping ground for garbage and drainage, gradually deteriorating due to widespread pollution.” Madhukar Upadhayay, an environmentalist, reflects.
The capital city’s prosperity has come at a high cost to the river, which is treated more like an open sewer and less like a holy river. According to experts, unplanned urbanisation, unregulated sand extraction, increased solid waste disposal, a lack of public awareness, flagrant government negligence, and ineffective policies are some of the causes of the destruction.
The river also flows through one of the most significant Hindu temples in the world, the Pashupatinath Temple—a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It unites many ethnic groups and tourists under a common set of religious customs and plays an important role in religious and cultural celebrations. Pashupati Aryaghat, a cremation place on the riverbanks near the temple, is one of Nepal’s most famous open-air cremation sites.
“Before cremation, bodies were once placed on the riverbank, their mouths covered with water, and their faces and feet cleaned with river water. That is no longer the case. These days, bottled water is used for rituals,” Mithu Lama, a funeral caretaker, shares.
The communal pilgrimage along the rivers facilitated contact with the sacredness of the holy river, but due to the highly degraded quality of the water, even the most devout worshippers no longer want to make that connection. In some places, worship is not possible due to the accumulation of solid waste on the banks.
Futile Cleaning Attempts
Periodic cleaning efforts and tree plantations along the banks have not made progress. In 2009, the government approved the Bagmati Plan of Action to improve the river’s condition. It aimed for a balanced river network through various conservation initiatives. Launched alongside, the Bagmati Integrated Watershed Management Program engages communities and authorities in ecosystem enhancement using participatory methods.
The recent proposal to build a reservoir at the headwaters area in Shivapuri Mountain aimed to augment the river flow. However, the plan sparked debates regarding its safety and efficacy. It was criticised for providing an unduly centralised solution and ignoring the underlying causes of pollution, including the watershed’s compromised natural processes and the contaminated tributaries, including Dhobikhola, Bishnumati, and Manahara. Despite the government’s significant investment of 1.8 billion over approximately 28 years, Bagmati struggles to revive.
What It Means to Save Bagmati
A more effective approach would involve a holistic plan to save the Bagmati and its tributaries. For example, the River Aravari in India, which had gone dry for over six decades, started to flow again through traditional rainwater harvesting techniques.
A more effective approach would involve a holistic plan to save the Bagmati and its tributaries. For example, the River Aravari in India, which had gone dry for over six decades, started to flow again through traditional rainwater harvesting techniques. Today, a community-led river parliament governs Aravari, making policy decisions regarding its management. The river renews itself, but when stressors exceed its capacity, it dies out, especially in small watersheds like the Bagmati.
River restoration by investing in expensive and risky structures is futile. Failure to save the Bagmati suggests we cannot manage other environmental challenges. Hence, it calls for implementing cost-effective and sustainable solutions; one such solution is the Arvari River, which emphasises community-driven rainwater collection.
This approach can be tested with smaller tributaries, like the Godavari. It would further foster local ownership and gradually restore the entire watershed to ensure a clean natural legacy for future generations.
Bringing back Bagmati is not just about cleaning a river; it is about reclaiming Nepal’s long-lost culture and heritage that disappeared with the clean water. It is about ensuring that future generations can experience the river in all its sacredness, free from the blight of pollution.
Pratikshya Bhatta is a junior editor for Nepal Connect.