A Visit To A Local Water Polluted Site: Aniket Suresh Wagh

A visit to a Local Water Polluted Site
By
Aniket Suresh Wagh
SYBCA (SCI)
Introduction:
Pollution can be defined as the undesirable change in
natural system. It may also define as the unwanted
change in the characteristics of air, water, soil and other
environmental factors. Pollution adversely affects the
health, survival or other activities of human and other
animals. It is the main problem at present both at local
level as well as at a global level. In Nepal, the pollution
is the growing concern. But there are only limited studies
done so far to quantify the level of pollution. Thus the
availability of the data is very poor. The monitoring
activities are virtually insignificant. However, with the
movement of industrialization and urbanization the
pollution situation has become quite visible in some
industrial locations and major urban centers.
Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either
foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring
contaminants. Pollutants include solid, liquid or gaseous
substances present in greater than natural abundance
produced due to human activity, which have detrimental
effect on our environment. Pollution can affect: air,
water, soil and biodiversity that directly affect the plant
and animal life.
There are various types of pollution. Some are listed
below: air pollution, water pollution, land pollution and
noise pollution.
Water pollution:
Water pollution is defined as the contamination of water
by harmful substances which is detrimental to living
beings. Industrial wastes, household garbages, non-
decomposable materials from schools, chemicals,
pesticides releasing from agricultural activities are major
cause to pollute water bodies. The effects of water
pollution include decreasing the quantity of drinkable
water available, lowering water supplies for crop
irrigation, and impacting fish and wildlife populations that
require water of a certain purity for survival.
Consumption of polluted water causes various water
borne diseases which are effecting the human health in
long term and short term.
Land Pollution:
Soil or land pollution is contamination of the soil that
prevents natural growth and balance in the land. Many
micro and macro flora and fauna are affected by land
pollution since they obtain minerals, nutrition from soil
itself. Soil contamination can lead to poor growth and
reduced crop yields, loss of wildlife habitat, water and
visual pollution, soil erosion, and desertification.
Noise Pollution:
Noise pollution refers to undesirable levels of noises
caused by human activity that disrupt the standard of
living in the affected area. Noise pollution cause mental
stress, depression, damage to the ear drum which can
cause deafness. Other forms of pollution include
radioactive pollution, thermal pollution, light pollution and
plastic pollution. But our concern during our visit was
Water Pollution. There has grown up a serious concern
all over the visited area about the river and small rivulets
turning into polluted site. Water is the most important
natural resource of environment that supports life on the
Earth. Nepal is the second richest country in the world in
terms of water resources. There are about 6000 rivers in
Nepal having drainage area of 191000sq. km, 74% of
which lies in Nepal alone. There is various classification
of water pollution. Pollution of water is classified into two
categories based on their source:
a) Point sources: It refers to the contaminants that

enter the waterway from a single identifiable source
Such as pipe or ditch. E.g.: discharge from factory
b) Non-point sources: It means pollutants are emitted
from multiple sources. E.g.: surface run off from
agricultural land.
Objectives:
 To identify the major reason, extent and type of the
pollution near the visited site.
 To identify the adverse effect of pollution in that
vicinity.
 To explore the extent of pollution in the given
specified region.
 To study the present situation of environment.
 To study the visible effects of pollution.
 To study about the direct and indirect causes of
pollution
 To formulate the possible strategies in order to
control various pollution
 To suggest control measures to minimize pollution.
Methodology:
Firstly, we visited around polluted Dande River site and
small watershed in front of the paklihawa campus.
Further, analysis was done by following two methods:
A.Primary method: The polluted site was properly
observed and information was gathered up.
B.Secondary method: Different literary books and
journals related to pollution were consulted. Internet
sites were also cited and desk study was done for
obtaining different information about the polluted
place.
Discussion:
Dande River and small watershed in front of paklihawa
campus were selected for the report preparation
whichislocated in Rupandehi districts in Lumbini zone in
Western region of Nepal.
Morphometry of site:
Latitude: 83º 26’ East
Longitude: 27º 31’ North
Altitude: 110masl
Distance from East-West highway: 26km
Population: 1,08,558 (2067)
Female: 52,866
Male: 55,692
Total houses: 18,763
Observation in polluted site:
Most people around the river are unaware and illiterate.
They are unknown about waste management practices
so they don’t care about biodegradable and non-
biodegradable substances.
The river is flowing from North to South joining Nepal
and India. Major time, the river is full of water, rarely
drying during winter season.
During our visit, we saw the river as dumping location
i.e. there were pile of decomposed materials that came
from residing places. We observed following materials or
pollutants on the river bank:
1. Wastes from UCMS hospital
2. Wastes from near brick kiln
3. Plastic bags
4. Plastic bottles
5. Waste food materials
6. Damaged domestic wares
7. Man and animal excreta
8. Dead bodies of animals
9. Plant materials
The main factors/causes that results the pollution

was found are as follows:
a. Irrigation water for cultivating different crops.
b. Different animals wallow in the river.
c. People are disposing different waste materials
coming from household and small industrial
activities.
d. Random fishing and overfishing in the river by using
poisons.
e. Cremation of people on the river bank
f. Swimming in the river.
g. Surface run off from agricultural land
h. Eutrophication
i. Lack of awareness and activeness among local
people for conducting sanitation campaign
j. Lack of proper rules and regulations, programs for
removal of heap of pollutants by the side of Dande
Bridge by the Municipality or other Governmental
sectors.
k. Lack of proper implementation of existing rules and
regulation on Water Resource Management.
Consequences:
 The river is being polluted due to different
human activities which is not eco-friendly. The
heap of pollutants in Dande river looked as if it
is a dumping site not a river.
 It has totally damaged the beautiful scenario of
river. Very bad smell could be easily felt while
walking by the water sources.
 The water has become impure and unusable
for human and animals.
 Extreme eutrophication has been observed in
the river which has resulted in the reduction of
the available oxygen in the river. Increase in
nutrient content and biological growth is
causing consequent decrease of oxygen
supplies.
 Water quality seemed to be totally degraded
and when it is used for domestic purposes,
 it may cause water related illness such as
typhoid, cholera, dysentery, skin allergies etc.
 Loss of soil fertility and productivity is also a
major problems caused by Dande river
pollution.
 Due to the foul smell of the river and the other
pollutants the recreational value of river has
decreased.
Remedial Measures:
Here are some measures suggested to reduce the
problems faced due to the Dande river water
pollution:
 The majour cause of pollution is human

behavior. It should be changed.
 Proper selection and management of dumping
sites.
 Use of Bio-degradable substances as compost
manures.
 Application of ‘3 R’ principle; Recycle, Reduce,
Reuse
 Management of dustbins by household itself
and municipality in several places.
 Development of new residential areas without
sanitation provision should be prohibited.
 Proper implementation of rules and regulations,
programs for removal of heap of pollutants by
the side of Dande Bridge by the Municipality or
other Governmental sectors.
 Establishment of toilet in every house for the
safe disposal and provision for reuse of
disposed material in field should be made to
increase the fertility of soil.
 Cremation by the side of the river should be
prohibited.
 Dead bodies of animals and waste
material should be disposed in distance
from water resources.
 Wallowing of animals in water resources
should be strictly controlled.
 Planting ground cover and stabilizing
erosion prone areas.
 Controlled fishing, using of poison during
fishing is strictly prohibited.
 Cleaning campaign must be launched from
local level.
 Strict implementation of “polluters’ pay”
principle.
 Shifting of Dande market to the area far
from water resources may be the one
solution to reduce the water pollution near
the site.
 Government should formulate and
implement waste management strategies
in the region of polluted areas.
 Solid wastes must be reuse and recycle.
 Public awareness against water pollution
must be raised
 For management of water wastes,recycling
factories must be established.
 Proper dumping site must be established
for non-degradable solid wastes.
 Every home, school, offices must be use
dustbin separately.
 Farmers must be given awareness about
excessive use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides.
 Various NGOs, INGOs should conduct
community sanitation programme.
 Strict government act must be passed.
 Use of decomposable materials and
discard using of non renewable materials
 Emphasis on using renewable solid
materials and proper utilization with reuse
must be done
Summary and Conclusion:
Water is the most important natural resource of
environment that supports life on the Earth. The visited
locality is undergoing rapid pollution because what most
of the people fail to realize is that they will never truly
destroy the natural resources and the resources will
always remain. This trend is creating more and more
pollution in the environment. So, there is utmost need of
changing peoples’ thought about their activities. Thus,
we suggested some recommendations for the solution
for the pollution of
References:
 Neupane, H. Class note on Agricultural and Environmental Economic
 http://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html Retrieved on:
August 1, 2o17/ 8:00am
 Sharma, P.D.1992, Ecology and Environment. Rastogi Publication,
Meerut
 http://www.siddharthanagar.org.np/ Retrieved on: August 1, 2017/
8:30 am
water resources in paklihawa areas.

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A visit to a Local Water Polluted Site

a) Point sources: It refers to the contaminants that

The main factors/causes that results the pollution

 The majour cause of pollution is human

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