Rapid urbanisation and human encroachment– especially in the Kathmandu Valley– have left Nepal's rivers highly polluted. "I remember people bathing and washing clothes in Bagmati River as late as 1985 because the river was very clean," Nuwakot district native Bishnuhari Sapkota told Khabar South Asia. "The way it was polluted in the following years is beyond imagination." Things have started to change. For more than a year, an army of volunteers equipped with clinical masks, gloves and cleaning tools has pitched in to attack the problem. They gather every Saturday morning to clean the Bagmati – a river considered holy by Hindus. Volunteers include students, professionals, activists and even police and army personnel. Reliance International Academy math teacher Ram Sah is one of them. "I have been participating in the cleanup campaign for the past six weeks. I used to come alone at first but then my friends and colleagues also joined me. On an average, we have around 1,000 people cleaning the river and riverbank every Saturday," he told Khabar. "The cleanup has become a kind of celebration rather than a chore these days." Everyone's job Initiated by Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudel more than a year ago, the campaign– which aims to clean a 21km stretch of the river from Baghdwar to Chobhar– has received increasing support from civil society, the private sector and government agencies. "Through the campaign we wanted to give out the message that it is possible to clean up our rivers and it was everyone's job to do so," Paudel told Khabar. "Bagmati Cleaning Campaign has inspired several other river cleaning campaigns across the country." Conservation activist and Environment Impact Assessment expert Kumar Paudel doubts the effectiveness of the effort. "Cleaning only the riverbank or even cleaning the river is not the permanent solution," he said. "As long as people keep mixing their sewage into the river without any fear of punishment, the river will always be polluted." The river also has very little water left and the existing water treatment plant does not work due to power shortages, he added. The government is addressing these concerns. Ministry of Urban Development Secretary Kishore Thapa said it will begin enforcing septic tank requirements more strictly, and assist older, denser city settlements with septic tank construction. Executive Director of Nepal River Conservation Trust Mausam Khanal told Khabar the campaign is a first step toward tackling environmental problems. "The campaign is more about behavioural change in society and creating more awareness about the importance of conservation of rivers," he said. "Of course there are many problems to be tackled, and this campaign is the first step towards solution."