Thanks for "Trickle of Hope on the Bagmati" (#9). Just to clarify some points. The Ganga Aryaghat Improvement Project does not plan to clean Bagmati water. This is being done by the Bagmati Area Sewage Construction Project which plans to send the treated water through a 522m tunnel, connecting Tamraganga and Tilganga so that "clean but unholy" water does not flow past the Aryaghat. However, as the situation at the Aryaghat will worsen in the dry season because there will be no water left in the river, we propose to bring "clean and holy" water from the Sundarijal area so that it can be discharged straight into the river. This way, devotees have holy water from the source of the Bagmati, while the local environment has clean water from the treatment plant. We do not plan to build a big reservoir as you have stated, it will be a simple intake where we bring water from Dhap to replace water we withdraw from Sundarijal. This is a simple and sustainable solution. Contrary to what you have suggested in your editorial (#8) we do not intend to change the name of Aryaghat. Our project is called Ganga because it was initiated by Mr Binod Chaudhary in memory of his mother. I do not see this as a major problem, after all what's in a name? It is the work that is more important.

Bhusan Tuladhar
Kathmandu

Salil Subedi's "Garbage in, Compost Out" is timely. Theinitiatives taken by the group WEPCO are commendable. Unfortunately I witnessed an episode last Saturday of which I took a picture (see below). The collectors dispose the garbage behind the wall east of ICIMOD. They don't produce compost or take it for recycling. In fact, a small hill of trash has already been created at that place. The solution may be the concept of "zero waste". The waste collector goes from door to door and pays money for the high-quality waste gener-ated at your home. Check it out at www.multinepal.com