State of the Environment

1. Air Quality: Studies show that the Kathmandu Valley is particularly vulnerable to air pollution. This is not only due to the large number of vehicles plying the streets but also due to its bowl-shaped form which restricts wind movement within the Valley and retains the pollutants in the substratum, especially during periods of thermal inversion when warm air rests over cold air. This phenomenon often takes place in winter in the Valley. The total number of vehicles increased from 75,141 in 1990 to 207,579 in 1998. Together with the increase in the number of vehicles, the number of industries in Nepal has also increased tremendously. The industrial census of 1992 indicated that 74% of the total industries were air polluting industries and one-third of them were located in the Kathmandu Valley. The cement industry contributes the highest to industrial pollution. Brick manufacturing is also a significant source of atmospheric emissions because of the type of processes used in material handling and firing. Nepal is one of the least urbanised countries in the world. However, the average annual growth rate of urban population of over five per cent is fairly high compared to that in other developing countries in Asia. The concentration of air pollutants is primarily due to source emissions and meteorological conditions, and these are closely related to population density and land-use patterns. Medical records from hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley revealed that urban residents have more respiratory diseases than rural residents (LEADERS 1999).This may be due to deterioration in air quality in urban centres. Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is one of the top five diseases.

2. Forest Depletion: The area of woody vegetation, including forest and shrub, constituted 39.6% of the country’s total area in 1999. Some programmes, such as community forestry programmes, have carried out exemplary work on conserving forest resources. But, on the other hand, there are also activities responsible for the dwindling of forest resources in the country. Pressure on forest resources come from population growth, increase energy demands, livestock and grazing areas, human migration. Encroachment of forest land has occurred in the districts of Jhapa and Morang of eastern Nepal as a result of the construction of Bhutanese refugee camps in and around the forests. It is stated that, in the beginning, the refugees were provided access to forest to use the forest wood for cooking fuel and hut construction. Another factor in degradation of the Terai forest all along the Indo-Nepal border is transboundary smuggling of logs into India. The forest in Nepal has three important functions: production of goods, protection of, natural environment, and regulation of atmospheric conditions. It is estimated that annual deforestation of 26,602 ha has emitted 7.77 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere (SEAMCAP 2000). One of the main government efforts is the community forestry programme, initiated in 1978, emphasizes sustainable management and development of forests through involving communities as forest user groups.

3. Soils: Soil degradation is of two basic types: soil erosion and in situ soil deterioration. Soil erosion refers to the physical wearing down of the earth’s surface and includes surface erosion and mass wasting. The country is mountainous for the most part (> 80%) and the terrain is rugged and characterised by unstable and steep slopes, making it vulnerable to exogenous factors. The impacts of soil degradation are many and all are closely related to environmental degradation. Landslides occur almost every year in every part of the country, resulting in the loss of land and lives. The fertility of soil has decreased tremendously because of erosion of the topsoil as well as extensive siltation on farmland because of floods. The impact appears to be much more serious among poor farmers who mostly cultivate marginal lands on steeper slopes. Among the countries of South Asia, fertiliser use for farming by Nepalese farmers is low. Whatever information and data are available are either patchy or location or topic specific. This is probably a prime reason for the poor development in the sector. More lengthy and extensive studies are required to cover as many dimensions of the soil problem and as many geographical areas as possible so that acute soil issues can be addressed.

4. Solid Waste: Solid waste is an inevitable by-product of human activities. In the past, this was not a major problem because almost everything was reused or recycled and whatever remained was taken care of by nature. However, the introduction of new materials and changing consumption patterns, especially in urban areas, have resulted in increasing volumes of waste and, as a result, breakdown of traditional systems of waste management has taken place. Urbanisation in Nepal is characterized by rapid and haphazard growth, and this has exerted tremendous pressure on the urban environment as well as on the capacities of the government and the people to manage this change. The rate of urban growth is at 6.5% per annum, which is the highest in South Asia, and also a cause for major concern. Households are the main sources of solid waste in Nepal. This accounts for about 83% of all solid waste generated in Nepal. In comparison, agricultural waste accounts for 11% and industrial waste for 6% of the total solid waste. Due to the low level of industrialisation and limited use of hazardous chemicals, such as pesticides and persistent organic pollutants, it is safe to say that Nepal probably generates very little hazardous waste compared to other countries. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’, is the most common response to the problem of solid waste management in Nepal. The problem is therefore more at the institutional and managerial level than technical. If left unchecked, the waste management problem is expected to become more severe in the future because of the continued increase in the amount of waste generated and in the generation of potentially hazardous waste.

5. Water Quality: There are over 6,000 rivers in Nepal with an estimated total length of more than 45,000 km (CBS 1995). All large rivers are fed by snowmelt from the Himalayas, and hence they are perennial. Concerns about water include both quantity and quality of the resource and relate to human health standards. The total available surface and groundwater potential of the country is 224 billion m3 and 12 billion m3 respectively (WECS 1999). Since studies are not carried out on a regular basis, it is difficult to determine the real degree of overexploitation. Because there is no regular monitoring programme, groundwater depletion rate is uncertain in the Kathmandu Valley. Unfortunately the recharge areas in the surrounding hills, which were once densely forested, have been turned into agricultural land so that there is little support from the surrounding watershed areas to replenish the groundwater in the valley. Many of these industries discharge effluents into local rivers without treatment, spoiling the quality of river water. Many of these industries discharge effluents into local rivers without treatment, spoiling the quality of river water. The groundwater quality in the Kathmandu Valley is also contaminated due to polluted surface water, leachate, and sewage. None of the water from groundwater sources, such as dug-wells, deep tubewells, stone spouts, ponds, and piped water in the valley, as given in Table 3.37, is guaranteed free from fecal contamination (ENPHO 1999; NWSC 1999).

Contact
Nepal National Focal Point
Name of Organization: Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA)
Contact Person for SAYEN: Mr. Yogendra Chitrakar
Email: ecca@mos.com.np , yogendra_chitrakar@yahoo.com
Website: www.ecca.org.np

Address
P. O. Box No. 9210
Jwagal, Kupandole
Lalitpur, Nepal
Phone: 977-1-555 0452
Fax: 977-1-555 3870