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The Bagmati: Nepal’s Holiest, and Dirtiest, River

时间:2022-10-05 22:59:14

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(单词翻译)

The Bagmati: Nepal’s Holiest, and Dirtiest, River

Nepal's holiest river, the Bagmati, begins high in the Himalaya Mountains. It has been honored religiously since ancient times. Tradition says its waters have the power to purify souls.

But the Bagmati itself is polluted. Along its almost 600-kilometer path through forests, farmland, and towns, the Bagmati starts to darken with pollution. It is black and full of trash by the time it reaches Kathmandu, the capital.

The water is undrinkable. It is not useful for cleaning. During the dry season, a bad smell rises from the riverbed.

Today, the Bagmati is Nepal's most polluted river. The worsening conditions have sharply changed the way Kathmandu's three million people interact with the river.

In the capital, the Bagmati's waters travel slowly past several holy places, including the Pashupatinath Temple. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The huge complex honors the Hindu god Shiva, and other, lesser1 gods.

Hindus gather on the riverside in Kathmandu to worship at shrines3 and celebrate holidays, or festivals. Women enter the river to wash away sins during the Rishipanchami holiday. Visitors also get in the water during the festival of Chhath.

Families have long carried the bodies of loved ones who have died to the river to wash their feet and shake drops of water on their faces. Beliefs hold that the river washes away a person's wrongs and sends their soul to heaven. Later, the body is burned along the banks of the river and the ashes are thrown into the water.

People still bring the dead to the Bagmati, but few make contact with the water.

"That is no more now. The water is so dirty and stinks5. People are forced to bring bottled water and do the rituals," said 59-year-old Mithu Lama. She has worked with her husband at the Teku ghat cremation6 grounds since she was 15.

People have also traditionally collected river water to use on their homes to purify them. The river is meaningful to Buddhists7, as well. Many cremate8 bodies besides the Bagmati.

Born and raised next to the the river, Lama recalled using its waters for cooking, bathing, washing and even drinking. Today that feels like a long-ago dream ended by the dumping of human waste and trash.

"I now have serious doubt that it will be cleaned in my lifetime," Lama said. "Not that there has not been any efforts, there have been several cleaning campaigns, but there are more people dirtying it. People are the problem."

There have been efforts by both private volunteers and the government to clean up the river. For example, for the last seven years hundreds of volunteers have gathered in Kathmandu every Saturday to remove trash from the Bagmati.

Mala Kharel is among that crowd most Saturdays. She is an executive member of the governmental High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization. It was set up to help clean up the river. She volunteers her time to raise awareness9 among the population about avoiding pollution.

Kharel said the campaign has succeeded in collecting about 80 percent of the trash along the side of the river. The volunteers say they find trash, dead animals and even the bodies of babies. The cleanup effort is difficult and more needs to be done.

In addition, many thousands of people have built homes and shelters illegally along the river and refuse to leave.

As for the human waste, the committee is working on several projects including new canals and pipes alongside the river. Those are to connect to sewer10 lines to prevent waste from reaching the Bagmati.

The group also is considering a waste treatment plant. And it has started building new dams where rainwater can be captured during the monsoon11 season and released into the river during the dry months. This could help move waste downstream from Kathmandu.

Work on the pipe and canal system began around 2013, but no completion date has been announced. Building on two dams is continuing and reportedly close to completion. Another dam is getting started. But campaigners have high hopes.

"In the next 10 years, I am hoping the river will be flowing clear and the banks will be clean and lined with trees," Kharel said. "We are working hard with this target."

The hopefulness is not shared by everyone. Some environmentalists do not know if the dams will be of much help.

"There is too much expectations from these dams. Bagmati is a natural river and not a canal that can be cleaned so easily," said Madhukar Upadhya, a scientist who studies the river closely.

He said no sand is left. Today it is lined with clay and mixed with chemicals from industrial activity.

"So much damage has already been done to it," Upadhya said, "that it can perhaps be cleaned to some degree but not restored to its past glory."

Words in This Story

trash –n. things that are no longer useful or wanted and that have been thrown away

shrine2 –n. a place connected with a holy person or event where people go to worship

stink4 –v. to smell bad

ritual –n. a formal ceremony or series of acts that is always performed in the same way

cremation –n. the process of burning the body of someone who has died

doubt –v. to not believe

awareness –n. to have knowledge of something

sewer –n. something that removes waste and water

glory –n. praise, honor or fame


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 lesser UpxzJL     
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地
参考例句:
  • Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
  • She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及,但程度较轻。
2 shrine 0yfw7     
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣
参考例句:
  • The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
  • They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。
3 shrines 9ec38e53af7365fa2e189f82b1f01792     
圣地,圣坛,神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪,并且初步鉴定为神庙。
  • Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。
4 stink ZG5zA     
vi.发出恶臭;糟透,招人厌恶;n.恶臭
参考例句:
  • The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
  • The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。
5 stinks 6254e99acfa1f76e5581ffe6c369f803     
v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 );发臭味;名声臭;糟透
参考例句:
  • The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
6 cremation 4f4ab38aa2f2418460d3e3f6fb425ab6     
n.火葬,火化
参考例句:
  • Cremation is more common than burial in some countries. 在一些国家,火葬比土葬普遍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Garbage cremation can greatly reduce the occupancy of land. 垃圾焚烧可以大大减少占用土地。 来自互联网
7 Buddhists 5f3c74ef01ae0fe3724e91f586462b77     
n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒,用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
  • The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后,并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句
8 cremate tYwzF     
v.火葬,烧成灰
参考例句:
  • She wants Chris to be cremated.她想把克里斯的尸体火化。
  • Laowang explains: "Combustion is cremate, degenerating is inhumation. "老王解释道:“燃烧就是火葬,腐朽就是土葬。”
9 awareness 4yWzdW     
n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智
参考例句:
  • There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
  • Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
10 sewer 2Ehzu     
n.排水沟,下水道
参考例句:
  • They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
  • The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。
11 monsoon 261zf     
n.季雨,季风,大雨
参考例句:
  • The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
  • The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

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