Nepal is rich in cultural heritage and blessed with ample religious site having mythological importance since time immemorial. One such holy site is Devghatdham located at the junction of Trishuli and Kali Gandaki rivers which merge to form Narayani River, a major tributary of Ganga (Ganges). It is 5kms northwest of Narayangadh and 150km southwest of Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal. There are several Ashrams, Inns, caves and temples, each year hundred thousands of pilgrims visit the site to observe a festival called Makar Sakranti (mid- January).

Imbedded in the calm tropical forests with confluence of three major rivers, the site has emerged as a destination of attraction to native and foreign visitors. Roaming via the streets one can hear the chants, monkeys roaming around and priests performing religious rituals. It is widely believed that a dip in this holy confluence will make you rid of your sins. But the question is how serene are our religious places?

On 7^th September, one of my friend Mr. Prasuj Mainali (Youth Activist) tagged me and few other youth campaigners from Chitwan including Mr. Birendra Pudel, Mr. Nabaraj Poudel in a facebook post of Dr. Raju Adhikari. The post appealed for an action against the unethical solid waste dumping in holy site of Devghatdham. Seeing this post our eyes were wide open and it was a bit shameful to us as we had no idea of how our nearest holy site was degrading. We quickly made the plan for visiting the site and stakeholders early tomorrow.

As such, the next day i.e 8^th September we reached the venue by 7am and had interaction with some shopkeepers around. Initially public blamed each other for such scenario, some said that the monkeys don?t scatter the collected waste so their efforts are worthless while others stated that the negligence of Devghat Development Committee is responsible. Waste Bins were installed at different places but not used rationally. It was pathetic to see the pilgrims who came for a bath in Holy River were carrying their plastic bags for incense sticks and offerings which they left at bank thinking the water waves will wipe it off. I wondered how one can expect to get rid of sin by encroaching the serene rivers with plastics.

We tracked the actual site as was seen in the facebook post of Dr. Raju Adhikari. Mrs. Parbati Lamsal (President of Devghatdham Tole Development Organization) joined and directed us the way. There were three different spots with heaps of wastes. Degradable and non-degradable waste were so ill mixed that it was very tough for us to segregate. As we had only 5 pairs of reusable gloves (Thanks to Campaigner Mr. Nabaraj Poudel) so we put it on one hand only. As we started the waste collection public joined together and expressed their gratitude to us. Altogether we collected twenty five sacks full of waste, each having capacity of twenty kilograms. The sacks were then after sealed and subjected to be handed to municipality for proper disposal in dumping site.

Mr. Pradeep Raj Adhikari (President of Environment Friendly Committee) shared that they had informal network of around thirty five youths who voluntarily conributed to solid waste management each Tuesday during the Nepali month of Shrawan (July/August). On each Monday of this month, thousands of pilgrims visit Devghatdham to worship Lord Shiva. But he expressed dissatisfaction for not having cooperation from officials in higher level. Everyone had their complaints and blame for rampant garbage disposal in the holy site but our effort was to convince every stakeholders for a collaborative sustainable action. We were happy that at the end everyone confessed for being irresponsible and committed to contribute from their level to change their attitude.

In the meantime, we are planning for a focal group discussion to explore a practical and sustainable way for solid waste management in the Devghatdham area. Last but not the least, social media Facebook played a crucial role in this social activism and I would like to Mr. Birendra Poudel and Nabaraj Poudel for their coordination and thank each and every individual who contributed directly or indirectly in this cleanliness mission. I personally felt such a relief to see the cleaned site, a part of our responsibility was accomplished well.

To conclude, I would like to stress that in the pursuit of Moksha (freedom from ignorance: self-realization and self-knowledge) one should not forget that clean environment is equally necessary to peaceful mind and selfless soul. In fact the serenity of the holy places is dependent on these three interdependent aspects.