By: Dev Kumar Sunuwar

Kathmandu: Dhulikhel municipality constructed a community-based wastewater treatment plant cum biogas at Srikhandapur-9, in Kavre district that generates cooking gas for locals, fertilizers for farmers and ultimately sends clean water into the river.

Six-horizontal reed bed treatment systems [wetlands] of 175 cubic meters and two-Bio-gas reactors of 75 cubic meter capacity each have been installed over four-Ropanis of land adjoining the sewage pipe of over 200 households for collection of wastewater.
Building of the plant was conceptualized after the sewage system directly linked by people from Banepa to nearby the Punyamata River caused a number of communicable diseases in the area and Dhulikhel municipality.  "It was a result of our long consultation with experts working in the field," said Saroj Prasad Guragain, an official at Dhulikhel Municipality. "It is a sustainable solution for wastewater management we have found ever," said Guragain, adding, "It can also be easily replicated to other places." It was a joint effort. The UN-HABITAT and Dhulikhel Municipality supported Rs. 53, 00,000 and Rs. 17, 00, 000, respectively. 
Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) provided technical assistance and training to locals in maintaining the system. The locals volunteered with masonry and contributed over Rs. 10, 00,000.

"It is the first of its kind in South Asia," said Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, the chief technical advisor of UN-HABITAT, adding, “Kathmandu would be clean and green if the same systems are built where the sewage waste is directly linked to Bishnumati and Bagmati rivers." The plant generates over 30-kilogram cooking gas and equal amount of fertilizer everyday when the plant becomes fully operational next month, according to the technicians involved in the construction.
"We found it very beneficial, as the wastewater is converted into energy," said Purna Bahadur Karmacharya, the president of Srikhandapur Wastewater Treatment Plant Users Committee. "We are very happy that we have been able to get cooking gas at home easily and fertilizer in the fields, and see the environment clean." 
Kishor Thapa, joint secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works said, “Similar technique could be used to solve the problem of wastewater in bigger cities like Kathmandu as well.” He called on experts to conduct further research on feasibility of such projects in bigger cities.

Source: Kantipur; Rajdhani; Annapurna Post, September 25; The Kathmandu Post; The Himalayan Times, September 26, 2008