June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year.    
According to the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation, the draft of the plan with the aim of constructing a corridor incorporating the Bagmati River and its tributaries and to restore the beauty of the historic river by 2043 has been prepared.    
Discussions with various bodies concerned are underway in course of finalizing the draft. The committee’s engineer Kamal Acharya said that the draft will likely be finalised by mid-April next year.    
The plan is all about the restoration of the Bagmati River, fixation of a sewage system on its two sides, construction of a corridor and cleaning its tributaries, said Acharya.    
“Not only solid wastes but also the liquid wastes pose a challenge for cleaning the rivers and it needs to be managed,” he added.    
The committee is currently carrying out waste management works targeting the Bagmati and 11 other rivulets in the Kathmandu Valley. The rivulets are Bishnumati, Manohara, Dhobhikhola, Tukucha, Balkhu, Machchhekhola, Mahadev Khola, Manamati, Nakhhu, Karmanasha and Hanumante.    
All these rivulets will have a sewage system on both sides, the committee officials said. Similarly, religious shrines on the banks of these rivulets will be rebuilt in course of implementing the plan.    
The government in 2066 BS had come up with a five-year Bagmati Action Plan while the 20-year master plan is the revised form of the same plan. -- RSS