Bajhang : The family of Jharendra, a resident of Kailash who runs a small teashop beside the Pankot Bridge over the Seti River, has been unable to sleep soundly at night. Along with him, scores of people living by the bridge are suffering disturbance in their sleep. What is disturbing their sleep at night is the sound that comes from the glass bottles that knock and break as they float down the Seti River. Oftentimes, people take fright as the sound is too harsh to bear at night.
“People throw empty alcohol bottles whenever water level is higher in the waterway”, says Jharendra. “Since the part of the canal in front of us is rather sloppy, the bottles strike loud enough to disturb our sleep.” According to him, small children, who fall asleep fast, also get frightened of the noise and wake up in the middle.”This is the only canal in the area to dispose the household garbage and glass bottles”, says he. “We find no better alternative. We have no designated place elsewhere to dispose glass bottles and other garbage of the town of Jay Prithvi Municipality.” The Seti River and Bahuligad have thus become dumping sites. “People mostly throw garbage into the canal whereas some throw directly into the Seti River and into Bahuligad, which joins the Seti River a little downstream. All the garbage we thrown ultimately reach into the Seti River,” says Santosh Singh from Chainpur.
As Singh says, we can see glass and other garbage piles on the banks of Bahuligad and the Seti River which flows by Chainpur. And most of the garbage deposits can be seen near Pankot, Chhorebagar and Simlirukh on the banks of Seti River; and at Bus Park, behind Old Bank and around the concrete bridge on the Bahuligad edge.
The municipality that collects garbage from and around Chainpur uses the Bahuligad and the Seti River as its dumping sites. Though it is dumped in a ditch which is at the bus park construction site on the edge of Bahuligad, the same, a few months ago, used to have its place on the riverside. “They burn the heap but since most of them comprise of glass, they remain undestroyed and get mixed into the river water,” says Padam Thapa, who drives Municipality’s garbage van. “Especially during rainy season when all the garbage remains unburned, they are left to be mixed into the water again.”
Glass and garbage at the source of Seti
Yarsa and other herb collectors, tourist trekkers who walk along the narrow Urai passage to Tibet or to Kailash Mansarobar and riverside hotels, lying between Dhuli and Khopa of Kanda Rural Municipality are mainly responsible for polluting the source of the Seti River. According to the locals, they throw glass bottles and other decaying and non-decaying stuff that come from the hotels. This trend is causing the garbage to pile up.
The Seti River springs forth from Kalanga, which lies about 5000 meters above the sea level. “Garbage from the hotels such as plastic and glass ultimately reach Seti, the garbage pile is heaping up each year,” says Lal Singh Bohara, a resident of Dhuli, Saipal Rural Municipality. According to Bohara, on the one hand, about four dozens of hotels and shops lying below Kalanga dispose the garbage in Seti River and on the other hand, water scarcity has compelled the locals to use the same river water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes.
The Seti River has not only been the easy garbage disposal site for locals but also an easier place for them use as toilets. “All have been doing so, why should we only we be concerned about it?” questions Dhan Bahadur Bohara, who owns a hotel at Dahachaur. “Shall we think about managing the garbage or the hotel?” According to Mahiman Tamang, another hotelier at Naya, since they have no drinking water facility there, they are left with no choice but to use the river water for all purposes including drinking. When asked about managing the garbage, he said, “It’s not possible by individual effort. Timely intervention can bring Seti back to its natural state again.” Mentioning the liquor import from Tibet, Tamang said, “Liquor products come from Tibet via more than 25 thousand sheep in a single season i.e. from March to September; and by reusing those glass bottles and by employing other means to manage non-glass wastes, the filth of Seti’s source can be checked. Being concerned with Seti’s rising pollution, Man Bahadur Bohara from Saipal Rural Municipality admits, “It not only gives negative impression to tourists about our place but also affects the ecology of this yarsa zone.”
Glass galore from all sides
It is the case with not only Saipal and Jay Prithvi Rural Municipality, other places across the district use the rivers and streams as their easiest garbage disposal sites. Although the trend of disposing glass in village streams is comparatively lesser—that makes them less risky, the Seti River carries glass from many other places daily in a greater quantity.
Jay Prithvi Highway, which links Bajhang with other districts extends from Deura of Kedarasyu Rural Municipality to Rupakot of Talkot Rural Municipality. On the high land above, road construction along the Seti River is underway with no transportation service yet. But tons of glass bottle garbage produced from Deura, Rayal, Aanandpur, Sahajpur, Jhota and Mallo bazaar of Kedarasyu Rural Municipality and Sudikhola, Jhanana and Mauribagar bazaar of Durgathali Rural Municipality are thrown into the Seti River.
Similarly, other market areas from where larger quantity of glass bottles is dumped into the river include Bhadebagar and Bhyagutegad of ChhabbisPathibhera Rural Municipality, Tamail, Subeda and Bhopur of Jay Prithvi Rural Municipality and Sunikot and Dhamenaof Ruptola Rural Municipality. “About one to two trucks of glass bottles are thrown down into Seti River daily from Deura bazaar alone”, estimates Ganesh Sayar, a resident of Deura, adding “As far as possible, the Seti River is the primary target for disposing the glass bottles. Similarly, the plight of its tributaries viz. Ghatganga, Ingladwar and Gangaid from Saipal Rural Municipality, Lisnigad, Bhaityagad, Talkotigad, Sukgad and Sunigad from Talkot Rural Municipality and Dwarigad, Lachchhigad and Dungri from Masta Rural Municipality are no better.
A dozen of these Seti tributaries are Seti’s alternative garbage disposal streams for the locals there. Since Seti’s level is just plain between Talkot and Deura, all the glass bottles carried by the river are washed up on the banks her. “Where else to throw? On the land, broken glass might be too riskier”, said Mangal Bahadur Khadka from Chhanna Rural Municipality. “Water is everyone’s choice because it carries the bottles away.”
Filthy water
People from dozens of villages of Bajhang, Doti and Baitadi living by the Seti River still use the river water for drinking. To the people of Chainpur, the headquarters of Bajhang, Seti is a main alternative source of drinking water. These locals here are responsible for polluting the river and on the other hand they use the same river water for drinking. Scarcity of drinking water hits the Chainpur locals even during the rainy season.
But recently the rising pollution in the river has caused health issues to the people. “Waters of Seti and Bahuligad used to be clean enough for drinking only until five or six years ago,” said Bisna Nepali from Chainpur. “But now if the water is drunk without boiling, it causes diarrhea. Many people have had typhoid.”
According to locals, they are catching skin diseases after bathing in the river. “An hour or two after bathing, the skin starts showing symptoms of allergy and becomes itchy,” said Dabal Khadka, a local. “Skin rashes, wounds and infections would appear. We didn’t have such issues a couple of years ago,” said Khadka. He added that they are compelled to use the water despite knowing that the water is impure as there is no alternative.
The data of District Health Office Bajhang show that water-borne diseases are on the rise each year. In the fiscal year 2015/16, 10,772 people were affected by water-borne diseases; while in the following year 2016/17, the number rose to 19,044. As far as the current fiscal year is concerned, the data until February records 10,100 people with such diseases. As the diseases tend to go up during summer, the number of people with water-borne diseases could go up this year, said Ganga Joshi, Chief of District Health Office Bajhang. Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Jaundice, dysentery and diarrhea are common among the patients.
Where people hesitate to step in
The Seti River is the biggest source of water in the entire far-western region. It is also a favorite swimming spot for the youths and elderly alike. But the trend is on the decline in recent days with rising quantities of glass pieces in the water. “People refrain from swimming in many parts of Seti,” says Rabi Khadka, a resident of Thalara Rural Municipality-9 Malumela. “Because broken glass bottles are everywhere; and those who attempt swimming in the river rarely come back unhurt.” Khadka remembered that he once got his leg cut which took months to recover. “During summer, a large number of youths go to the river daily and come back wounded,” he added.
Apart from swimming, fishing is customary to the people living by the river especially between August and May. For the users of fishing nets, certain level of water and its flow are important. They say the milder the flow of river, the more the fishes in a net. But these days, the glass pieces in the water have made it difficult and rather impossible for the people to dare step into the Seti River. “This has put the fishing job at peril”, said Lokendra Giri, a resident of Matela of Pathibhera Rural Municipality. “People hardly use nets today,” he said. “Because fishing spots are too dangerous to step into water”. Netting a fish requires one to go up to the middle of a river to spread a net; and because broken glass pieces are everywhere, no fishermen dare do that barefooted.
A traditional way of catching fish using a traditional fishnet is so scientific that only a certain sized fish are caught into it while smaller ones can easily escape out. This helps reproduce fish in a sustainable way. These days such traditional means are disappearing. The modern ways is only helpful in catching and killing tinier and larger fish all at a time from outside the river but that prevents the fish from reproducing further.
Loss of aquatic creatures
The Seti River is home of Himalayan Trout Fish, which is known for its taste across the country. To the people visiting Bajhang, Himalayan Trout is everyone’s favorite for gift pack. This fish is also transported live up to Dhangadhi and Mahendranagar these days. But with the rise in glass bottles and plastic garbage in the Seti River, the fate of this fish is at stake. Mulu Giri, 78 and a resident of Paringal is surprised at the declining number of fish in river. “People didn’t use to catch a fish in the way they do these days,” he recalls. “Even net users used to be scarce.” Explaining the local way of catching fish, he adds,” About a decade ago, people used a big cooking pot with its mouth covered and tied by a piece of cloth. There used to be a hole on top of it, big enough for an average sized fish to go into the pot; and some food is kept inside the pot for bait. The pot then placed under water would be full of fish in just an hour or two! These traditional means have been taken over by the modern and hence their numbers are not only decreased sharply but have completely disappeared from many places.” Reminding us the increasing volume of glass bottles in water, he questions, “How can we expect a fish in filth?” He believes that fishes are the gifts from the water god who is now not happy with the current activities of human beings. To him, the disappearance of fish from water means the god’s reluctance to gift us the fish.
Fish population has declined in other parts of the Seti River as well. Few years ago, Jhungala Round of Pankotbridge near the district headquarters used to be known for the largest number of fish in the region. According to Rupendra Rasaili from Chainpur, fish has disappeared from Jhungala at present. “The glass level has risen up three meters from the river bottom. Obviously, there is no fish in the river after its habitat has been encroached by pieces of broken bottles,” said Rasaili. Another reason for dying out the fishes, according to him, is the drains of Chainpur town that all end in the Seti River.
The locals claim that the dying out of fishes is causing water deer to die out. Water deer used to be in abundance in the Seti River few years ago. “Those water deer which lived on fishes are found nowhere these days,” says Janak Khadka, a resident of Thalara. “Even Jalewas, water fowls are no more. It is because of the disappearance of fish from river.”
Dr. Dipak Rijal, who is studying the Seti River and the water ecosystem of the place supports Khadka’s view and says, “Seti is home to many aquatic animals. Excessive glass in it means a threat to all the creatures living in it.”
According to Dr. Rijal, the glass has adversely affected not only fish but also human beings, animals and birds who use the river water. The presence glass garbage in a river puts the habitat of aquatic animals in danger, and in the long run, river water will be dead. Many of the rivers in Nepal have become dead; this means that there is no aquatic life in there. Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha says it is illegal to dump glass, plastic and other garbage into a river. This will cause aquatic creatures to become extinct. “It is depressing for those concerned with biological diversity. It is not the question of where and how it is affecting, it is rather a sheer crime,” says Shrestha. Fish expert Tek Gurung says that garbage in water affects not only fishes but also all who are present in and rely on the water. “Once a creature is affected, the entire food chain is affected. This is exactly the reason why water deer disappeared.”
Holiness at stake
The Manaskhanda, a Hindu religious book written in the eighth century by Maharishi Ved Vyas describes the Seti River as Sita River. According to the book, the Sita River was originated when a Rishi named Pulahpracticed religious penance in the worship of Shiva in Uru area (the modern Urailek) for years. The book states the Seti River was formed by the water of Ganga River which originates from Mount Kailash. The Ganga water goes underground before it comes out in Uru area and is known by the Seti River. Therefore the Seti River water is believed to be as holy as the Ganga.
As a part of the holy Ganga River, Seti river water also remains clean and germ free even after years of reserving it in a pot. “Religiously the Sita (Seti) River shares the same importance as the Ganga River,” says Bishnu Prasad Khatri, former Secretary, who is regarded as a knowledgeable person about Seti River. Devi temples at its confluences also prove its holiness.
“Since the past eight years, its holiness is facing many risks. If wastes are not checked, the Seti River will soon share the plight of today’s Bagmati,” said Bishnu Bhakta Shastri, former Professor, who studied about Bajhang state, its history, culture and religion. He said that its purity and holiness is questionable now. “It is replete with alcohol bottles. Wasters are littered everywhere in the entire district,” he said. “The water that we could drink directly from the river until 7 years ago is not good enough for bathing and washing today. If this trend continues, how can it remain holy?”
Glass quantity
Before 1997, the consumption of liquors used to be meager in Bajhang. The declaration of Dry Area (Alcohol Restricted Zone) by the District Development Committee had cut down on its consumption. Though illegally brewed alcohol used to be sold secretly, this declaration had put an end to glass-bottled alcohols.
But soon after the success of People’s Movement in 2006, all party meeting in May of the same year corrected the Declaration. Under pressure from businessmen, the trade of alcohol was relaxed again.
Earlier when there was no motorway to Bajhang, people imported the liquor products via airplanes. Four to five private, chartered air planes landed every day in Bajhang. In the fiscal year 2006/7 alone, more than 3 hundred million bottles of branded alcohol were brought here,” says Om Jung Bahadur Sing, the FNC President Bajhang. Later when the headquarters was linked with motorway, trucks replaced the air planes in carrying alcoholic goods. Although no authorities have exact data on the quantity of bottles in Bajhang, according to Treasury Control Office, 379 people are granted license to sell alcohol in the district. According TCO source, more than one thousand local businessmen do alcohol business in the rural area without license.
Control Measures
The local authority responsible for managing the garbage has not taken any measures yet to curb the illegal trade of alcoholic beverages. Jay Prithvi Municipality, which pollutes the Seti most, has no Garbage Management Section in the Municipality office. There are no officials either to look into the river matter. What is more, Municipality itself dumps the garbage right at the river banks. When asked about the Seti River, Mayor Birendra Khadka said the river is just normal.”I don’t see any serious condition in Seti,” he said. “Due to the lack of awareness, a few people in a few places may have thrown house wastes into the Seti River. We will come up with awareness programs against this.” He expressed his disbelief and took it lightly about the quantity of glass and plastic wastes in Seti. He said they will take up some measures to control the pollution.
In another question about the disappearance of fish from Seti, he said, “I don’t think it is because of wastes in the river. Perhaps, it is because of reckless fishing.” Nobody is really serious about the worsening condition of the river, said Ramesh K.C., a resident of Jay Prithvi Municipality. “Local representatives are busy in digging out roads, who else will care?” he questioned. He expressed his freight that unless the river’s cleanliness is restored, it will wreak havoc within few years.
Not only Jay Prithvi Municipality, no other public representatives and conservation authorities have time to think about the issue. “Glass wastes have caused so much adverse effect; and we haven’t paid attention to it,” said Lokesh Bhandari, Ward Chairperson of Deura, the highest water polluting village of Kedarasyu Rural Municipalitysaid. He promised to bring waste control plan from his capacity so as to control the pollution in the rivers. Similarly, Rajendra Dhami, President of Saipal Rural Municipality admits that the glass wastes and other forms of pollution at Seti’s source are posing a serious threat to the free movement of not only people but also the livestock.
