11/06/2026
Participant no. 7: Dilesh Maharjan
Caption: This photo perfectly captures the sad reality of many urban rivers in Nepal today. The water itself is a murky, gray-brown mess, which is a dead giveaway for heavy pollution and toxic runoff. You can see trash and plastic floating around, showing how these waterways are basically treated as open dumpsters. But if you look closer at the big picture, the real issue is how tightly the city is crowding the river. Those concrete buildings are pushing right up against the banks, squeezing out the natural greenery. Normally, those plants act like a sponge to filter out pollution, but because human infrastructure has choked them out, the river loses its ability to clean itself. It’s a textbook example of how fast, unplanned city growth destroys vital natural resources.
