Research Notes: Environmental issues in Nepal + Improvements

With rapid industrialisation, Nepal faces problems in sectors such as: water, air, energy, forestry and these problems are reaching a critical levels.

Environmental issues in Nepal and solving them using the cleaner production approach  by  Gautama,R , Herat, S.
 

Nepal is a landlocked country that lies between India and China in the Himalayan range of south Asia.  Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world.  Industrial production is limited, mainly involving the processing of agricultural produce (jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain).  Production of textiles and carpets has expanded
recently and accounts for 85% of foreign exchange earnings in the 1991 fiscal year.

Environmental Issues in Nepal

1) Water pollution

Nepal has vast reserves of water found in rivers, lakes,ponds, underground aquifers, snow-capped mountains and springs. Overexploitation has put tremendous pressure on this resource, causing various problems. Rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, and any free flowing water bodies are considered as surface water in this discussion. There are over 6000 rivers in Nepal with an estimated total length of some 45,000 km.  Sustain aquatic life drops to almost zero as soon as the rivers enter urban areas.  High turbidity during the rainy season makes the water very dirty. This is due to the excessive soil washed away by the river, as there is severe deforestation almost everywhere upstream. Rivers are dump-sites for almost all the unwanted garbage of the people. Heavy metals have been detected in some rivers that flow through the cities such as Kathmandu. UPDATE: There has been attempts at projects to clean the Bagmati river.
 

2) Air pollution

Nepal is not an industrialised country and nor does it have the vast number of industries that can cause serious environmental damage, as do the industrialised countries elsewhere in the world. Even though, it is clear that industries in Nepal are not concerned about air pollution. WHY?

• No regulation (or lack of regulation)
• No EIA conducted, even if conducted they are biased
• Short-term profit oriented practices
• Lack of funding to install pollution control devices
• Very old factories
• Conventional and often obsolete equipment/process in use
• Cheap conventional fuels in use
• No pollution control/prevention measures within the industry
• No awareness among the factory workers
• Poverty among the citizens provides a willing workforce for the factories, as the government cannot provide any other means to tackle the unemployment problem
• Lack of effective monitoring practices

 

3) Waste

Waste is a burning issue in Nepal these days. This is primarily an urban problem. Since the villages are sparsely populated and most waste produced in the villages is biodegradable, the people in these areas (mostly farmers) always find some effective ways of utilising biodegradable wastes in their farms. But in the urban areas, the situation is very different. Kathmandu Valley has been chosen as a prime suspect for this heading.

Kathmandu : 

The valley consists of three municipalities, namely  Kathmandu (also capital), Patan and Bhadgaon. With these three municipalities, the Valley is now known as Greater Kathmandu. Households, small-scale industries and construction activities constitute the major sources of the wastes generally encountered in the valley.
The physical composition of the waste shows that it contains, on average, 20%  non-biodegradables and 80% biodegradables. Of the 20% non-biodegradable wastes, 7% is paper, 3% is glass, 2.5% plastics, 0.5% metal scraps and 7% others.  Nepal shares a border with India and the presence of plague in India has serious implications for Nepal. Fortunately, no such accidents have
as yet occurred in Nepal.)

Rural Places:

When considering the rural waste problem, two types of source of waste generation need to be identified—household wastes and Himalayan litter.

• Household wastes. Since the rural villages are very remote, without easy access to modern facilities, this sector does not contribute to the waste problem on a large scale. More than 90% of the wastes generated in any house is biodegradable. Moreover, the predominantly agriculture-based economy ensures that these people are able to use all their wastes for manuring. But the main concern here is the hygiene of the rural people, who are in general ignorant of the sanitation practices necessary to avoid disease. Lack of sanitation causes many diseases among these people. Typhoid and dysentery kill scores of people every year.
• Himalayian Litter. There has been a rapid increase in the number of climbing expeditions to the Himalayas. The quantity of material carried with these expeditions to the mountains can be substantial. By the end of the expedition a significant proportion of such material is dumped haphazardly as solid waste. One study conducted at and around Everest Base Camp (3440–5546 m) has shown a greater percentage of non-biodegradable rubbish.

4) Deforestation

Nepal has been suffering from deforestation at an alarming rate. The deforestation rate is so high that many areas once lush with forest covers and dense biodiversity are now turning into barren lands. Some of the environmental journals have reported that Nepal will soon be changed into a mountain desert. There are reasons to believe this fact as the visible signs of deforestation can be clearly seen throughout the country.
Thirty-seven percent of the country’s area is under forest cover while that under agriculture is about 20%. Eleven percent of the forest land is in a degraded state while another 26% has less than 40% crown cover. Forests in Nepal are not well distributed compared with population density. WHY?

• Seventy-five percent of the country’s energy requirement is met by fuel wood. Over 80% of the population live in rural areas and almost 100% of these people are dependent on forests to meet their energy needs. Thus there is tremendous pressure on forests. The rate of current tree planting is very slow compared with the rate of deforestation.
• The livestock sector in Nepal is heavily dependent on forests and grasslands. About 42% of this requirement is estimated to be met from the forestry.
• Lack of awareness among the local communities regarding the importance of forests coupled with the government’s failure to provide alternative energy sources for the local people.

 

So why does Nepal need Cleaner Production?

The Nepalese government has been trying to solve the problems of environmental pollution by applying various methods. The main emphasis has been given to the pollution control method. As described above, Nepal is following the same path that the industrialised countries had gone through during the post war period.
Nepalese industries and institutions will not be able to combat pollution by installing equipment which is very costly and which demands highly skilled experts.
Tourism: Nepal is listed among the top 25 nation in biodiversity list, with sites like Chitwan and Kathmandu (gaining a world heritage site rights). However, tourists complain about the nasty smell of garbage and leaking sewage in the capital city.
Health: The country has seen an increasing trend in the patients suffering from bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. However, the increases in the use of masks and sale of medicines related to the above diseases during the monsoon season give a clear picture about how pollution is affecting the health sector.
Agriculture: The use of biogas has helped the country to save both in terms of traditional fuel use and fertiliser importation.

Recommendations

Create strict environmental policies in industries-  The first step can be initiating a comprehensive environmental policy based on waste reduction or pollution prevention at an individual factory level. This can be done by encouraging all the employees at different levels to adopt good housekeeping practices.
Create guidelines for legislation- Nepal needs better legislation and effluent standards that are in line with pollution prevention approaches. All the guidelines should be “multimedia
and flexible, and should incorporate industrial managers, employees, relevant authorities and NGOs in the regulation development process. However, developing countries like Nepal have entirely different socioeconomic structures, which poses obstacles in implementing such rules of developed countries.

Other recommendations:

1. Build training and research capacity
2. Keep everyone informed
3. Form a waste exchange network
4. Use of less traditional fuels by investing in alternative energy
5. Reduction in the use of pesticide

In conclusion, Nepal (like other developing countries), has a long way to go to implement pollution prevention approaches. In countries where the socio-political consequences of mass unemployment are more politically explosive than the environmental costs of growth, the political incentives for prevention are, unfortunately, very low at this time. Once the benefits start to appear, the programme will generate its own momentum, and there is no doubt that it will change the future of Nepal, which could become an inspirational
example to other developing countries.

Article summarised and referenced from: Science Direct
Images from: Google Images