The High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization has completed ninety percent of the drainage pipeline placement work along the Bagmati river.  

The committee, under the Ministry of Urban Development, has completed installing the drain pipes between Gokarna and Balkhu, spanning a length of 20 km, since the project began in the fiscal year 2007/08.

Senior Division Engineer of the committee, Yogendra Chitrakar, said the drainage placement system in Pashupati area and Sankhamul has been bypassed through a tunnel to preserve the heritage site.

A separate channel has also been built at Kalmochan and Pachali Ghat, he added.

The project will complete after the committee has laid the pipeline till Sundarighat, which is roughly 8km from Balkhu. Kishor Kumar Shakya, the committee chairman, said the ongoing Ring Road expansion and electric poles below the Balkhu Bridge were causing difficulty in pipeline installation. Nevertheless, he is certain that the project will complete within the running fiscal year 2016/17.

Without separate drainage system, the Bagmati river, considered holy by Hindu faithful, has been suffering from pollution for ages. The drainage system is expected to greatly reduce the pollution level.  Besides, the committee is also installing drainage pipelines at major confluences of Bagmati-Dhobikhola and Bagmati-Bishnumati.  The committee said work has been affected in some places like Balaju and Gongabu where landless squatters have built settlements next to the Bishnumati river.

Chitrakar said they were in the middle of a negotiation with the squatters so that the project could move forward.