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Assessment of Industrial pollution and development of
remediation strategies in Dhobikhola river area
The project undertook a
multi-stakeholder approach to document
the nature and extent of
the potential health impacts due to
industrial pollution in the Dhobikhola
river towards
developing a strategy to address the
situation.
This involved the preparation of a
multi-stakeholder study documenting the
nature and extent of chemical pollution;
human health impacts; government and NGO
(local and international) capabilities;
possible
intervention strategies; potential
funding agencies for more extensive
remediation efforts
and the potential for improving human
health by reducing pollution impacts.
The project began with the
identification of the sources and nature
of industrial pollutants
in the study area and the development of
an up to date inventory of industries
and
polluting sources in the study area
supported by the development of a
digitized map of
the area as well. Once this was
completed, the project undertook an
analysis of pollutants
through physical, chemical and microbial
study of pollutants and consequent
public
health risk assessment. Based on the
outcome of this work, a two pronged
strategy of awareness and basic training
for industries on the Cleaner Production
Approach sought to
enhance overall awareness among selected
industries as well as in the public on
the
health impact due to industrial
effluents.
This was further supported by a
study of the
existing legal standards in Nepal with
regards to industrial pollution, and
increased
interaction with government agencies and
NGOs to identify areas to develop
possible
remediation strategies.
The
comprehensive nature of the project has
resulted in the identification of a
number of
areas for possible intervention in the
future to address the issue of
industrial pollution in
Dhobikhola River and its outlying areas.
The basis of such a remediation strategy
is also
a combination of different approaches at
various levels- the implementation of
industrial
effluents compliance monitoring system
at the government level, the adoption of
Cleaner
Production Approach (CP) at the
industries, and the need to enhance
greater awareness at
the local level to develop citizen
activism in not only enhancing their
understanding of
localized industrial pollution, but also
enabling them to create pressure to the
government
for the implementation of standards to
curb industrial pollution.
For more information on the project,
please contact WATO Nepal |
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