Indian textile waste polluting Nepal’s rivers: Report

Image Courtesy: Eco Age

Cheap readymade garment imports from India and China are said to be the primary drivers of Nepal’s rivers being choked with textile waste, with these countries contributing to 89 per cent of garment imports to Nepal, as per the World Bank. Nepal is facing an imminent crisis with a significant number of these clothes getting dumped in its prime rivers, after being worn only a couple of times. 

Speaking about the issue, Dr. Posh Raj Pandey, Chair Emeritus of the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, stated how Nepal is dependent on India and China for its imports, and its inability to compete is resulting in Nepal’s 6000 rivers being currently clogged with colourful garments and footwear, as per an investigation conducted by sustainable business consultancy Eco Age. 

Apart from imports from China and India, another important reason mentioned in this investigation authored by Tansy Hoskins and Arun Karki, included funeral rituals, which involve not only clothes but also bedsheets and other linens of the deceased getting discarded into rivers. While rivers are majorly where textiles and apparel are getting thrown, such truck-full of waste is also witnessed at landfill sites, which consequently produce methane gas emissions. Ranked as the fourth most climate-vulnerable country, the dumping of textile contributes to devastating effect on Nepal’s landscapes. 

In this regard, Sanu Maiya Maharjan, who works for the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office stressed on the need for public awareness and spoke about distributing these clothes among the poor and needy instead of throwing them away.

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