Members of Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan display the banners they would be using during the June 1 road blockade in Raxaul. These banners carry the news items published by The Telegraph on December 26, December 7 and November 4, 2010, and February 1, 2011, highlighting the pollution of Sariswa river (below). Pictures by Jai Prakash

Patna, May 29: The residents of Raxaul have decided to block the movement of vehicles to and from Nepal for four hours on Wednesday over the alleged failure of the Nepal government to check dumping of untreated industrial waste in Sariswa river.

Organised under the banner of Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan (SNBA), the Raxaul residents would squat on a protest dharna on the NH 28A to stop the vehicular movement from 8am to 12 noon. The protesters, including women and students, would carry banners displaying the reports published by The Telegraph (November 4, December 7, December 26 and February 1) highlighting the problems arising out of the pollution of the river.

“We have been forced to take the extreme step of blocking the vehicular movement to Nepal because its administration has not taken any corrective step even four months after getting the report of the committee asked to look into the reasons for the pollution of the river,” Anil Sinha, a college teacher heading the SNBA, told The Telegraph.

Raxaul, a sub-divisional town of Bihar around 215km north of Patna near India-Nepal border, is on the banks of Sariswa, a tributary of Burhi Gandak river. It originates from a small hill at Pathlahia on the border of Parsa and Bara districts of Nepal. The medicinal plants on the hill add to the quality of the water of the river flowing southwards from the place of its origin.

After flowing for about 15km in Nepal, it enters India in Raxaul. It meets Burhi Gandak near Sugauli in East Champaran district, around 20km away from Raxaul.

The industrial units near Birgunj, a Nepal town between Pathlahia and Raxaul, have adversely affected the river water releasing untreated industrial waste in it. With the high-level of mercury, lead, copper, arsenic and cadmium, the Sariswa river water has become black and smells foul.

The Parsa district administration of Nepal had set up an eight-member committee, headed by social activist Ritesh Tripathi, in December last year. The committee submitted its report in the last week of January this year.

It had held 50 industrial units of the Birgunj-Pathlahia Industrial Area responsible for the degradation of the river water. It had also recommended legal action against 44 of these industrial units, including leather factories, medicine manufacturing units, iron and steel factories and textile units. The report said the river water was being polluted in violation of the provisions of the interim constitution of Nepal, which talks of right to clean environment as a fundamental right of the citizens of the country.

The report mentioned that the factories were hampering the India-Nepal relationship by allowing flow of polluted water to India.

The report suggested an extensive cleaning drive of the river right from its origin point to the India-Nepal border. Besides, it recommended to set up a joint waste treatment plant by the industrial units and put in place a dedicated team to keep watch on the industrial units along the Sariswa river banks to prevent release of untreated waste in the river.

“The Nepal officials had promised to implement the recommendations of the committee. But nothing has happened so far. The Raxaul residents are facing its consequences. They are not only facing health hazards but have also been forced to live with the foul smell of the river water,” Sinha said.

The morale of SNBA is high as Paschim Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal, too, has decided to join their agitation and sit on dharna on June 1.

“During my visit to Nepal in March this year, I had raised this issue before the Nepal President, Ram Baran Yadav. He had promised to look into the matter. But nothing much appears to have moved after his assurance,” Jaiswal said, adding that even the Government of India did not appear to be much concerned about this issue as it failed to take any concrete step though the matter was raised in Parliament.

He said if the issue was not addressed on a priority basis a series of protest programmes would be organised in days to come and pressure would be put on Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh to visit the town and see the plight of the Raxaul residents.