Swimming in flooded dirty Balkhu Rivulet

A Risky Game in polluted water A boy struggling to swim in flooded Balkhu Rivulet in Kathmandu

Boys enjoying the game to the cross the flooded rivulet by swimming. They were crossing the rivulet time and again.
It is Monsoon Season in Nepal. On June 13, 2007, I was returning to my house in Balkhu from the central Kathmandu . I was on foot. There is a rivulet which I have to pass through. The name of the rivulet is “Balkhu Khola” (khola means rivulet in Nepali).This rivulet joins to Bagmati River, the main river in Kathmandu valley. When I was crossing the bridge of Balkhu rivulet, I saw some public watching down at the rivulet .With curiosity, I also looked down and I found that public were looking at the flooded rivulet and they were discussing about the garbage that was flowing with the flood.


A boy gives his hand to rescue the youngest boy. In the game of crossing the river the youngest boy was near to death one time. He was about to drown in to the water but by his luck he succeed to swim back to the bank.

I also found the flood was abnormal to the public because it was not raining in the area where they were watching the flood and it was taking with it all the garbage that people have thrown in different part of this rivulet The reason that it was flooding was that it was raining in the southern hills of the Kathmandu Valley, where the origin of this rivulet lies.
The flood was quiet big comparing to its normal flow of water in the other season.

The boys were swimming just near, about 10m far from the meeting point of the Balkhu Rivulet and The Bagmati River. Due to this there was possible risk to the boys of swiping away with the flood.

I thought of taking photos of the flood at first but after some seconds I decided not to take any photos and started to walk towards my house. But when I walked about 50m along river from the bridge I saw four boys swimming in the flooded rivulet. This sight of swimming made me to take back the decision of not taking photos. I decided to take photos of the risky swimming. The part of the rivulet where they were swimming was just 10m away from the meeting point of this rivulet with the Bagmati River, which was also big because it is monsoon season.

One of the boys does acrobatic in the polluted water. The boy is not aware of the possible risk and accident that may happen in this dark water.
The same boy is diving into the rivulet although the water is totally dark and polluted with mud and garages.

I went just near the bank of the rivulet to take the photos of this risky swimming. The swimming of these children was risky in two ways. The first way of risk was that they were swimming in a flooded rivulet which may swept them and mix them with the bigger flow, the Bagmati River. This may lead to death also. Another way of risk is the polluted water that they can be contaminated with all the possible disease that is communicable through polluted water. They were not also using any swimming materials that we use normally in swimming pools.
The youngest boy among the four boys makes eye contact with the camera in the polluted flood.
The floating garbage in the flood of Balkhu Rivulet. Use plastic bottles of different kinds of drinks was more than 50% of the floating garbage which flowing away with the flood.

In spite of these possible risks they were swimming happily and bravely. They were diving into the dirty flood. To catch what ever garbage flows with the flood and bring them to the bank of the rivulet was their interesting game with no reason. They were more competing and enjoying when catching an old helmet in the flood. Another game in the swimming was to swim across the rivulet as fast as possible challenging the current of the flood.
The flooded and polluted Balkhu Rivulet mixes with Bagmati River
.
The flood was full of different kind of garbage. This is the result of habit of throwing rubbish and garage in to and by the side of the rivulet. The people who are living along the side of this River are responsible for this polluted flood. Most of the other rivulets and the river like Bagmati and Bishnumati of Kathmandu are more polluted than this Balkhu rivulet where these innocent boys were swimming like in these photos, believing the polluted flood to be a swimming pool.

Taking rest; the boys, taking rest in the bank of rivulet after swimming more than one hour in the flood.