Rainwater Harvesting

Water is our most precious natural resource and something that most of us take for granted. We are now increasingly becoming aware of the importance of water to our survival and its limited supply, especially in dry season.

The harvesting of rainwater simply involves the collection of water from surfaces on which rain falls, and subsequently storing this water for later use. Normally water is collected from the roofs of buildings and stored in rainwater tanks. The water collected can be considered to be precious.

The collection of rainwater from the roofs of buildings can easily take place. All that is necessary to capture this water is to direct the flow of rainwater from roof gutters to a rainwater storage tank. By doing this, water can be and used for various purposes. It is possible to replace all or at least a substantial portion of your collected fresh water requirements by the capture and storage of rainwater from your roof. Being largely self sufficient in water supply is possible for a vast majority of households and buildings.

Bir Hospital: A model hospital

BHRIKUTI RAI

Kathmandu, Nepal

As hospitals go, Nepal's oldest hospital makes the news for all the wrong reasons: corruption, mismanagement and filth. However, Bir Hospital is becoming a model for recycling hospital waste not only for other hospitals in Nepal but around the world

                                        Pic: Bikram Rai

Each year hospitals in Nepal generate more than 365 tons of medical waste with most of it thrown into municipal garbage dumps: syringes, plastic, bandages and even some human body parts.

In the absence of proper storage, disposal facilities and sterilisation instruments like autoclave and incinerators, Bir Hospital was dumping 323 kg of infectious waste into the public garbage system every day. Not surprisingly, waste had become a major source of infection among patients and staff exposed to the polluted environment.

Last year, the Health Care Waste Management Program was launched with Healthcare Foundation-Nepal (HECAF). Today, Bir is quickly becoming a pioneer in the field of hospital waste management as the hospital now segregates waste at the source significantly reducing the toxicity. The waste is then thoroughly disinfected and passed along for recycling and reuse. "We have been following non-incineration techniques to manage medical waste because of the risks associated with burning them," says Mahesh Nakarmi, director of the Health Waste Management Program.

जलविद्युत् कि पर्यटन?

डम्बरकृष्ण श्रेष्ठ

भोटेकोशी, सिन्धुपाल्चोकमा

अँध्यारोमा बस्नुपरेको जलस्रोतको धनी देश नेपालको लागि विद्युत् जति आवश्यक छ, देशको अर्थतन्त्रमा पर्यटन क्षेत्रको संरक्षण र विकास त्यत्तिकै जरुरी। चिलिमे जलविद्युत् कम्पनी र नेपाल विद्युत् प्राधिकरणले रु.१२ अर्ब २८ करोडको लगानीमा सिन्धुपाल्चोकमा १०२ मेगावाट क्षमताको मध्य भोटेकोशी जलविद्युत् आयोजना निर्माण गर्दैछन्। यसबाट र्‍याफ्टिङ र कायकिङका लागि विश्व प्रसिद्ध भोटेकोशीको आकर्षण गुम्ने भएकाले आयोजनालाई ७५ मेगावाटमा सीमित गरी गातीमा प्रस्तावित विद्युत्गृहलाई सखुवामा सारेर नदी संरक्षण गर्नुपर्ने माग पर्यटन व्यवसायीहरूको छ। तर आयोजना निर्माता र राजनीतिक दलहरू अहिलेलाई पर्यटन भन्दा जलविद्युत् महत्वपूर्ण भएकाले हाल डिजाइन गरिएअनुरुप बनाउनुपर्ने अडानमा छन्।

१० मङ्सिरमा मध्य भोटेकोशी जलविद्युत् कम्पनीले सखुवामा आयोजना गरेको अन्तरक्रियामा नेकपा एमालेका पूर्व सांसद् सुभाष कर्माचार्यको भनाइ थियो, “नदी जोगाउने र पर्यटक ल्याउने कुरा आफ्नो ठाउँमा छ, तर सबैभन्दा पहिले हामीलाई उज्यालो चाहिएको छ।” जलविद्युत्लाई प्राथमिकता दिने र पर्यटनलाई पनि सक्दो जोगाउने कुरा गर्दै एनेकपा मा'वादीका सभासद् राजकुमार श्रेष्ठले तर मध्य भोटेकोशीमा स्थानीय बासिन्दाको जीवनस्तर उकास्न र गाउँ विकास गर्न विद्युत् नै महत्वपूर्ण भएको बताए।

कार्यक्रममा आयोजना प्रबन्धक कुलमानसिंह तामाङले सार्वजनिक-निजी साझ्ेदारीमा बन्न लागेको मध्य भोटेकोशीले तल्लो तहका जनताको आयस्तर बढाउने आकर्षण देखाए। आयोजनाले पर्यटनलाई असर पार्ने कुरा उठिरहेका बेला उनले इको हाइड्रो-टुरिजमको अवधारणा अनुसार चीनमा जस्तै हाइड्रोपावर हेर्ने पर्यटक भित्र्याउन सकिने र र्‍याफ्टिङका लागि आयोजना भन्दा दक्षिणको क्षेत्रमा नयाँ संरचना थपिने बताए।

Nepal pipes biogas expertise abroad

Navin Singh KhadkaEnvironment reporter, BBC News, Nepal

Having emerged as one of the pioneers in producing biogas from cow dung, the Himalayan nation of Nepal is now successfully transferring its technical expertise to other countries.

Photo: bbc.co.uk

Several Nepalese experts have been travelling to countries in South East Asia and Africa to introduce the "clean", homegrown technology that helps reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels and saves forests.Biogas from cow dung is mainly used for cooking in rural areas and also for lighting houses.

Renowned for displacing choking smoky ovens with clean cooking stoves, the Nepalese model of biogas has won the prestigious Ashden award.

The Biogas Partnership Project Nepal, a collaboration between the government, donors and non-governmental organisations, has already installed plants for nearly 300,000 households across the country.

The project says it helps reduce 7.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases per household per year and protects 250,000 trees during the same period of time.

And the expertise gained over the years has benefited many communities in different developing and least developed countries including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, among others in Asia and around 10 countries in Africa.