“LAND POLLUTION”

Term paper
Environment Law

Date: 2080- 04 - 05

Submitted by:
Kabita Nath Yogi, ST2366
Yellow Zone
B.A L.L.B 4rth year
Kathmandu School of Law
 Table of Abbreviation
FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization
SDG: Sustainable Development Goal
UNO: United Nations Organization
POP: Persistent organic Pollutants
ITPS: Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils
CEFIC: European Chemical Industry Council
PFAS: Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances
PCB: Polychlorinated biphenyls
HCW: Health Care Waste
WHO: World Health Organization

Table of Content
Part - 1
1.1 Introduction................................................................................................1
1.2 Objective ...................................................................................................1
1.3 Methodology..............................................................................................1
1.4 Limitation...................................................................................................1

Part - 2
2.1 Land Pollution………………………………………………
2.1.1 Contaminants…………………………………………….
2.2 Causes of Soil Pollution…………
2.2.1 Geogenic Sources
2.2.2 Anthropogenic Sources……….
- Agriculture
- Industrial
- Urbanization
- Mining
- Deforestation
- Waste disposal
Part - 3 (Legal Provisions)
3.1 International Provisions…………
3.2 Provisions In Nepal
- Case Laws In Nepal

Part - 4
4.1 Conclusion…………………………………………….
4.2 References…………………………………………
PART - 1

INTRODUCTION

According to FAO, "Soil pollution is invisible to the human eye, but it compromises the
quality of the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe and puts human and
environmental health at risk."1
The thin crust of the Earth’s surface, the soil, supports all terrestrial life and is involved in
the regulation and provision of many key ecosystem services that are essential to the
environment and to human health and well-being. Soil is the foundation of the agri-food
system and the medium in which nearly all food-producing crops grow - about 95 percent of
the food we eat comes from the soil. After the oceans, soil is the largest active carbon store
and one cubic meter of soil can store up to 600 liters of water, allowing crops to grow even
during dry periods.2
It is a non-renewable resource. Its degradation can be rapid, while it takes several thousands
of years to form and regenerate.
Soil pollution has a direct and indirect impact on SDGs. It affects directly to the ; Zero
hunger (SDG 2) , good health and wellbeing (SDG 3), Clean water and Sanitation (SDG 6),
Life on land (SDG 15), Climate Action (SDG 13),
And indirectly to : No Poverty (SDG 1), Reduce inequality (SDG 10), Life below water
(SDG 14), Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11)

David Montgomery in his book, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations writes that soil is
something "…we try to keep out of sight, out of mind, and outside. We spit on it, denigrate
it, and kick it off of our shoes. But in the end, what’s more important? Everything comes
from it, and everything returns to it. If that doesn’t earn dirt a little respect, consider how
profoundly soil fertility and soil erosion shaped the course of history."3

"The very first human civilisations were born of a prosperous marriage between abundant water and fertile
soil, both of which are in crisis now." - (Madhukar Upadhya, Soil in crisis)’
Madhukar Upadhya also mentioned in his article that in Nepal, the soil crisis has never been
as visible as the water crisis. In case of the latter, we see long queues at public taps, and
experience dry taps at home, whereas a soil crisis is masked by the market, which simply
imports food from other places and makes it readily available to us; therefore, we rarely, if
ever, notice the reduction in domestic food production unless it's reported in the media and
even then, the cause behind it—the deteriorating health of soil—isn't obvious. Thus we can
interpret that even though soil being the most fundamental element for life to be born,
which can have an unimaginable effect on the food system of the whole world including
almost every organism, yet soil pollution is the issue that has been neglected hugely and not
given as much importance as the other forms of pollution has got around the world.

Objective
- To Find out about the contaminants and sources of Land Pollution,
- To search and analyze the international legal provision regarding soil/land pollution,
- To find out the national laws and case laws of Nepal regarding soil/land pollution.
-
Methodology
This paper would be based mainly on the secondary sources like journals, articles, books and
research papers. The primary sources would be the Acts, Conventions and Charters.

1
Global Assessment of Soil Pollution - Summary for policymakers, FAO and UNEP, 2021, available at
https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4827en, accessed on Jun 6, 2023.
2
Ibid.
3
Soil in Crisis, Madhukar Upadhya, The Kathmandu Post, April 27,2022, available at
https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2022/04/27/save-soil-where-does-one-start, accessed on Jun 6, 2023.
 Limitation
- The paper would be limited to the context of soil pollution, its causes and
international and national provisions regarding it. Other kinds of pollution might
only be dealt as source of soil pollution. (eg, industrial pollution as source of soil
pollution)
- Word limit: 5000 word
- National Laws of other countries except Nepal has not been studied.
- Only five of the existing International Laws has been studied due to time and
resource limitation.

PART - 2

Land Pollution:

According to UNO, pollution means4;

1. presence of substances and heat in environmental media (air, water, land) whose
nature, location, or quantity produces undesirable environmental effects;
2. activity that generates pollutants.

Land pollution refers to the destruction or a decline in quality of the earth's surface as a
result of human actions. This could include anything from mining to agriculture to building,
and consequences may be intentional or unintentional.5
Soil pollution refers to the presence of a chemical or substance that is out of place and/or is
present at a higher than natural background concentration, and that has an adverse effect on
any non-target organism. The specification of non-target organisms in these definitions
recognizes that some chemicals and substances are added to plants and soils specifically to
suppress target organisms such as pesticides.6

NOTE: Land is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water.
Soil is the upper layer of earth, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic
remains, clay, rock particles and humus. Though the meaning of both is different, they are sometimes used
interchangeably to denote the same meaning. For the purpose of this paper, we would be using the term soil
pollution to denote the both terms having the same meaning.

Contaminants:
Soil pollution is caused by both naturally occurring and synthetic human-made
contaminants. Naturally occurring contaminants have always existed and have circulated
between environmental compartments (air, water, soil, organisms) throughout earth’s history.
However, over the past three centuries, the environment has increasingly been exposed to
both natural occurring chemicals and synthetic hazardous compounds due to
industrialization, large-scale production of synthetic chemicals, rapid urban development and
agricultural intensification.

4
Environment glossary, UN data - A word of information, available at
http://data.un.org/Glossary.aspx?q=pollution#:~:text=presence%20of%20substances%20and%20heat,activit
y%20that%20generates%20pollutants., accessed on Jun 5, 2023.
5
Land Pollution, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, available at
https://www.accgov.com/8208/Land, accessed on Jun 5, 2023.
6
Global Assessment of Soil Pollution - Summary for policymakers, FAO and UNEP, 2021, available at
https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4827en, accessed on Jun 6, 2023.
The most common entry routes of contaminants into the soil are direct application onto soil,
atmospheric deposition, application with irrigation water, rainwater, runoff water, or river
and lake sediments. Many of these contaminants remain in the vicinity or point of their
emission (thereby causing point-source soil pollution), but others, due to their ability to
release as a vapor from a liquid (or fugacity) and their subsequent mobility are spread all over
the world and hence can show high environmental persistence.
Chemicals that act as environmental contaminants in soil and which potentially cause
hazards, are either inorganic or organic compounds. The most commonly occurring
inorganic soil contaminants are trace elements such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd),
chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), zinc
(Zn), and radionuclides. Despite the natural occurrence of trace elements, hazard to the
environment and human health can result if these elements are present at concentrations
and/or in a chemical form that can be toxic for living organisms.7
Following is the Systematic categorization of the main pollutants in soils according to
IUPAC8;

Causes of Soil pollution

Geogenic sources:
Contaminants such as trace elements, radionuclides, asbestos and other contaminants occur
naturally in soils due to geological and pedological processes without anthropogenic
influence.
- Trace elements: are normally present in low concentrations and do not pose
problems for the environment or human health. However, certain types of rocks
have particularly high concentrations of trace elements and are highly toxic to
humans and other species. Weathering and pedogenetic processes may lead to
increased concentration in soils . eg; iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese
(Mn), nickel (Ni), boron (B), selenium (Se) and molybdenum (Mo) , lead (Pb),
cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg)
- Radionuclides: Radioactive elements that occur naturally and cause human health and
environmental concerns. eg; radium (Ra), thorium (Th) and uranium (U), potassium
(40K)

7
The chemical nature and properties of soil contaminants, FAO, available at
https://www.fao.org/3/cb4894en/online/src/html/chapter-02-2.html, accessed on Jun 7, 2023.
8
Nič, M., Jirát, J., Košata, B., Jenkins, A. & McNaught, A., eds. 2009. IUPAC Compendium of Chemical
Terminology: Gold Book. 2.1.0 edition. Research Triangle Park, NC, IUPAC. (also available at
http://goldbook.iupac.org).,
 - Asbestos: Naturally occurring asbestos is composed of fibrous silicate minerals and
occurs in soils formed from ultramafic rocks such as serpentine and amphibole.
Asbestos is a known carcinogen causing mesothelioma and its mining and industrial
use have been regulated or even banned in many countries.
- Organic Contaminants: may result from other natural processes such as atmospheric
deposition after forest fires. Trace elements, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) are the main contaminants associated with wildfires.

Anthropogenic sources:
Soil contamination caused by human activity, where the most common causes highlighted by
FAO are industry, mining, military activities, waste — which includes technological waste —
and wastewater management, farming, stock breeding, the building of urban and transport
infrastructures.

1. Agricultural

Agricultural soils can be contaminated with a wide range of compounds, from both direct
inputs (point source pollution) such as the application of pesticides and fertilizers and
indirect inputs (diffuse pollution) such as flooding and atmospheric deposition. Polluted soils
also represent a secondary emission source of contaminants to surrounding air, surface
waters, groundwater, and subsequently to oceans.9

Pesticides: Pesticides reach the soil by deposition after being sprayed on foliage when the
pesticide is washed off treated foliage by rainfall or overhead irrigation, by release from the
surface of treated seeds or by direct application of granules or spray to soil. They are
persistent in the environment due to their long half-lives and may have acute and/or chronic
effects on non-target organisms including humans and may enter into the food chain.
Pesticides and some of their degradation products may accumulate in soils, leach to
groundwater and can be transported by runoff to surface water bodies.

Mineral fertilizers; The overuse of fertilizers in some regions and countries has led to
worrying environmental problems such as the saturation of nutrients in soils and the loss of
fertilizer via leaching to groundwater and via runoff to surface water leading to pollution of
drinking water and eutrophication of freshwater rivers and lakes as well oceans.(FAO)

Agricultural plastic waste; Mulching films represent the greatest potential for soil pollution
due to their intimate contact with the soil and the risk of their incorporation into the soil as
they degrade or during post-harvest management.

Wastewater irrigation: Used as a low cost resource for irrigation, the organic contaminants
minimize the requirements for artificial fertilizer. Can contribute to the accumulation of trace
elements and organic contaminants such as POPs and PFAS, as well as represent a source of
dangerous pathogens, pharmaceuticals and personal care products and is also a source of
microplastics.

In Nepal, the use of agrochemical input has markedly increased after the implementation of
the Agricultural Perspective Plan (1995-2015), which prioritized the chemical-based farming
system.10 Bhandari et al. (2020) predicted environmental concentrations of pesticides
residues (primarily organophosphates) based on the analysis of soil samples (0.0 -40 cm
depth) collected from Gaidahawa Rural Municipality in Rupandehi district and found that
they range from 1.0 μg/kg to 251 μg/kg (mean of 16 μg/kg). They reported that the

9
Sources of soil pollution and major contaminants in agricultural areas, FAO, available at
https://www.fao.org/3/cb4894en/online/src/html/chapter-03-3.html, accessed on Jun 7,2023.
10
Birendra et al, An Overview of Urban Soil Contamination and Need of Soil Quality Assessment Guidelines
in Nepal,Journal of Development Innovations, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2022.
predicted values were higher than the guidelines in the European Commission Assessment
Report.11

2. Industrial
Intentional and unintentional releases of trace elements and organic contaminants from
industrial processes directly into the environment i.e soil, water bodies,
atmosphere.Abandoned industrial sites, historical long-term industrial pollution, and waste
disposal sites that were not managed in an environmentally sound manner. These all
continue to pollute soil.

From 2000 to 2017 the global annual production of chemicals doubled to approximately 2.3
billion tonnes (Cayuela and Hagan, 2019). The use of chemicals, other than pharmaceuticals,
is projected to increase by 85 percent by 2030, with China and the European Union
remaining the largest consumers. - CEFIC, 2017

Lead Acid Battery: Both the production and recycling process of lead acid battery cause
pollution by leaking into ground.

Agrochemicals: The organochlorine pesticide lindane; its manufacturing process produces

about 6-10 tonnes of by-products, mainly the alpha and beta HCH, for every tonne of active
lindane. All these are listed as a POP in the Stockholm Convention in 2017 and Lindane is
banned except pharmaceutical use against head lice and scabies.12

Textile manufacture: Improperly treated wastewater from dyeing and finishing process
contains trace elements, dyestuffs, cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, surfactants and high chemical
and biological oxygen demand. Spillage of untreated effluents or the use of polluted
wastewater for irrigation poses major risk for soil pollution.

Leather manufacture; The untreated effluents from tanning industries contain a high
concentration of contaminants which can end up in neighboring water bodies and soils .

Industrial accidents:

● Chernobyl nuclear disaster: Over the subsequent weeks the emissions continued to
be released and were spread by air currents and deposited over three areas in the
Soviet Union, in total 150,000 km with more than 5 million inhabitants. Outside the
former Soviet Union about 45,000 km across wide areas of Europe were impacted
with radiocaesium-137 between 37 kBq/m2 and 200 kBq/m2 (UNSCEAR, 2011).
The fallout of particles close to the reactor caused a high level of pollution of the soil
surface with radiocaesium-137 up to 106 Bq/m2. The deposition of
radiocaesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, has led to long-term internal and
external human exposure to radionuclides with several health implications.13
● Fukushima nuclear disaster: Most of the soil pollution from radionuclides following
the Fukushima accident occurred northwest of the reactor, resulting in a
contaminated strip 40 km in length. Before the accident, Fukushima prefecture was a
flourishing agricultural region (rice, fruits, vegetables and livestock) and fourth
largest producer of rice. 134Cs and 137Cs isotopes were mostly adsorbed to fine clay
and organic matter, and had slow downward movement (1–2 mm/year). These

11
Bhandari, G., Atreya, K., Scheepers, P. T. J., & Geissen, V. (2020). Concentration and distribution of pesticide
residues in soil: non-dietary human health risk assessment. Chemosphere, 253, 126594.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126594
12
Lindane (persistent organic pollutant) in the EU, Policy Department for Department for Citizens' Rights and
Constitutional Affairs, 2016, available at
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/supporting-analyses/sa-highlights, accessed on Jun 7, 2023.
13
Sources of soil pollution and major contaminants in industrial and transport areas, FAO, available at
https://www.fao.org/3/cb4894en/online/src/html/chapter-03-5.html, accessed on Jun 7, 2023.
 isotopes were absorbed by plants and in fruit trees, 134Cs and 137Cs were mobile,
moving from the bark into the wood, and transferred to the fruits.14

3. Urbanization
Urban soils are subject to numerous and diverse anthropogenic activities, and may therefore
have high levels of pollution.
Contaminants could be released through point or diffuse sources.
Domestic sources; Trace elements like lead in paints, lead piping and tanks, Zinc and copper
mainly associated with atmospheric deposition of transport emissions, including vehicle
exhaust gases, tyre and brake abrasion residues, and road wear emissions, while mercury is
frequently linked to coal combustion and industrial emissions.
Urban and peri-urban agriculture:POPs and trace elements may be found in urban
horticultural gardens and urban parks. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for home and
small-scale use, excessive application of agrochemicals, irrigation with low quality or recycled
water and the contribution of home-made compost rich in contaminants contribute to
pollution.
Accidental leakages; Fuel tanks and pipelines, sewers, septic tanks and landfills are large
reservoirs of a wide variety of contaminants. Leakage from power transmission equipment
can contain PCBs. They all can suffer accidental or incidental losses due to natural disasters,
such as the action of hurricanes, earthquakes or fires, due to poor maintenance causing
deterioration and consequent rupture and leakage, as well as external damage during
excavation

Municipal waste; household waste such as packaging, food scraps, grass cuttings, furniture,
clothes, paper and cardboard, household appliances, paint and batteries. It may also include
similar waste from small commercial activities.

Soils in the Kathmandu valley are mostly contaminated with heavy metals due to
developmental activities, and excessive pesticide and fertilizer application in agriculture.15

Heavy metal content has been found in the dust-loaded leaves from roadside trees in the
Kathmandu city with varying levels of traffic movement, and found high concentrations of
Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb and Cu. It concluded that sediments around Kirtipur and Bagmati River had
higher Zn and Ni compared to other soils in the Kathmandu valley.16

4. Mining
Mining is a potential major source of trace elements, not just from the mining operation
itself, but mostly due to wastes and emissions during the processing of the extracted
materials such as tailings, waste rock deposits and smelting operations.
The main pathways for soil pollution are cases where the tailings dam fails or from wind
erosion that disperses the fine mineral particles from the surface unless it is adequately
covered with vegetation or a capping material. This can lead to the pollution of areas at long
distances from the source.
These accidents released toxic waste rich in arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc that
accumulated in soils and reached surface waters.

14
Radiation Reloaded:Ecological Impacts of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident, Green Peace Japan,
March 2016, available at
https://www.greenpeace.de/publikationen/gpj-_fukushima-radiation_reloaded_report_issue_040316_lr_2.pdf,
accessed on Jun 7, 2023.
15
Chirika Shova Tamrakar* and Pawan Raj Shakya, Assessment of heavy metals in street dust in Kathmandu
Metropolitan City and their possible impacts on the environment, Pak. J. Anal. Environ. Chem. Vol. 12, No. 1
& 2 (2011)
16
Gautam, P., Blaha, U.,& Appel, E., Magnetic susceptibility of dust-loaded leaves as a proxy of traffic-related
heavy metal pollution in Kathmandu city,2005
According to FAO and ITPS (2015a), the exploitation of coal, gold, uranium,
wolfram/tungsten, tin, platinoids, and polymetallic sulfides causes the most severe cases of
soil pollution whenever mining is carried out. Pollution of soil from trace elements at sites
surrounding coal mines were reported to be the highest in Barapukuria in Bangladesh, Ledo
in India, Ptolemais-Amynteon in Greece, and the Tibagi River in Brazil compared to all
analyzed sites.17

Mines and Minerals Act 2042 BS; ..mining without causing significant adverse effect on
environment.. to adopt protective measures as prescribed on environmental protection. 18

5. Deforestation
Trees and shrubs shield the ground from the force of raindrops and provide shade that
reduces surface soil temperature, which in turn reduces evaporation.
Removal of trees exposes soil to rain splash which loosens and dislodges soil particles,
eroding soil and creating a more impermeable bare surface, which increases runoff.
Soil erosion has devastating effects on the environment, including the loss of fertile land and
crops.
Areas with high soil erosion are also more vulnerable to flooding, mudslides, dust storms,
and water pollution.
Decrease in the water holding capacity of the soil causes wash away of topsoil and nutrients
from the soil which can result in desertification after a period of time.

Study conducted in the Far western region of Nepal showed strong evidence that certain
land cover practices (relating to deforestation and agriculture) could be of greatest
relevance for landslide activity. Preceding changes in land cover related with deforestation
and crop irrigation have had a significant influence upon 16% of the total landslide
occurrences, especially at sites where deforestation occurred 5–7 years prior to the
landslide event accounting for the highest Land Cover Change anomalies.19

6. Waste disposal
It mainly consists of municipal waste whose large large part is not hazardous to the
environment and the health of workers and neighboring populations if it is managed in an
environmentally sound manner.
However hazardous household waste and industrial waste from small enterprises could enter
municipal waste and end up in landfill. The presence of a cocktail of contaminants in the
leachate poses a risk to the environment (air, fresh water, soil, and biota) and human health.
Leachates from young landfills are rich in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) which is capable
of leaking from the waste pile and mobilizing some organic contaminants and trace elements
contained in the landfill.
The proliferation of pathogenic organisms, such as viruses, fecal bacteria, protozoa and
helminths, which can cause infectious diseases to soil biota and humans, has been reported
in many unmanaged landfills.
Informal recycling and processing can also have an adverse effect on the environment and
waste pickers’ health since it is frequently done without any kind of control or containment
measure for the release of contaminants, which accumulate in the soil of the work areas,
which are often the same ones in which they live, putting at serious risk not only the health
of the recyclers but also of their families, and especially their children.
E-waste contains valuable and rare minerals, such as gold, copper, neodymium or indium but
also trace elements such as cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury, and persistent and

17
Equeenuddin Sk Md, Tripathy S, Sahoo PK, Panigrahi MK. Hydrogeochemical characteristics of acid mine
drainage and water pollution at Makum Coalfield, India. J Geochem Expl. 2010;3:75-82
18
Section 11 A, Mines and Minerals Act 2042 BS, Nepal.
19
Simon Allen et. al, Deforestation Controls Landslide Susceptibility in Far-Western Nepal, CATENA, Volume
219,2022.
emerging contaminants such as POPs, PCBs, plastics, perfluorooctanoic acids (PFOAs), and
flame-retardants, among others
Health care waste; Composes 85% general non-hazardous wastes, 10% infectious waste and
5% chemical and radioactive waste, according to WHO.20 Due to their hazardous nature, the
environmentally sound management of HCWs is essential to reduce the risk to human health
and the environment.

Elevated metal concentrations due to improper disposal of solid waste have been determined
in sediments along Bishnumati River and Bagmati River.21

International provision:
1. World charter on Nature(1982):
"All areas of earth, both land and seas, shall be subject to these principles of
conservation.."22
"The productivity of soil shall be maintained or enhanced through measures which safeguard
long term fertility and process of organic decomposition and prevent erosion and all other
forms of degradation"23

1. Updated World Soil Charter

The World soil charter(1981) had provided 13 principles and guidelines for actions to
government, international organizations to manage land for long term advantage and call
attention to the need of land use policies for soil conservation.
Updated world soil charter arose as a need to update and revise it in light of new scientific
knowledge gained over the past 30 years, especially with respect to new issues like soil
pollution and its consequences for the environment, climate change adaptation and
mitigation and urban sprawl impacts on soil availability and functions.
It recognizes the importance of individual and group actions along with gov. and IOs
actions, focusing on the importance of soil for ecosystem, biodiversity and sustainable use of
soil. 24

2. Resolution on soil pollution(UNEP-EA.3-Res.6):

To "encourage member states to address soil pollution with in global environmental, food
security and agriculture, dev. and health agendas...through preventive approaches and risk
management using available science."
- legislation and policy making, research on prevention, reduction and management of soil
pollution, global initiatives with expertise, collaboration of entities, capacity building and
mobilization of tech., report preparation,..

3. Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management;

- To be a reference providing general technical and policy recommendations on
sustainable soil management (SSM) for a wide range of committed stakeholders.
"Soils are an essential and non-renewable natural resource hosting goods and services vital to ecosystems and
human life."
For directly/indirectly achieving SDGs, zero hunger challenge, addressing climate change,
combat desertification, preserving biodiversity, incentives, research, programs....
- Global Symposium on Soil Pollution; as a step for implementation of voluntary
guidelines. "Be the solution to soil pollution”

20
Fact sheets, Health-care waste, WHO, available at
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/health-care-waste, accessed on Jun 15, 2023.
21
Devkota, D. C.,& Watanabe, K., Impact of solid waste on water quality of Bishnumati River and surrounding
areas in Kathmandu,2005.
22
General principle 3, World Charter on Nature, 1982.
23
General principle 10(b), World Charter on Nature, 1982.
24
Updated World Soil Charter, 2015
 4. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 1994:
It has defined "desertification" as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid
areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities
- "'...to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries
experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa.."
- "..strategies to focus on improved productivity of land, and the rehabilitation,
conservation and sustainable management of land"

5. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous

Wastes(1992):
The Convention covers toxic, poisonous, explosive, corrosive, flammable, ecotoxic and
infectious wastes and regulates the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other
wastes and obliges its Parties to ensure that such wastes are managed and disposed of in an
environmentally sound manner.

Nepal
Environment protection Act 2076 B.S:
""Pollution" means the activities that significantly degrade, damage the environment or harm
the beneficial or useful purpose of the environment, by changing the environment directly or
indirectly as a result of wastes, chemical, heat, noise, electrical, electro-magnetic waves or
radioactive ray. "25
""Wastes" means the liquid, solid, gas, slurry, smoke, dust, radiated element or substance or
similar other materials disposed in a manner to degrade the environment" 26
● Chap-3, 15.2: No person shall create pollution in such a manner as to cause
significant adverse impacts on the public life, public health and environment or do,
or cause to be done, any act contrary to the standards determined by the
Government of Nepal pursuant to sub-section (1).
● Sec. 17.2; In collecting, storing, processing, selling, distributing, disposing or
transporting a hazardous substance, the concerned person or body shall make its
proper management in a manner not to cause adverse impacts on the environment.

Solid Waste Management Act, 2068 BS:

"“Solid Waste” means domestic waste, industrial waste, chemical waste, health institution
related waste or harmful waste and this word shall also mean the materials which cannot be
used presently, thrown away or in rotten stage or in solid, liquid, gaseous, thick liquid, smoke,
or dust form emitted out damaging the environment or materials and equipments used for
electrical or information technology or any other materials of such nature or posters,
pamphlets posted unauthorized at public places or other substances prescribed as solid waste
through publication of notice in the Nepal Gazette by the Government of Nepal from time
to time "
● Sec. 3.1; The local body shall be responsible for the management of solid waste by
construction and operation of infrastructure like transfer station, landfill site,
processing plant, compost plant, biogas-plant and also collection of waste, final
disposal and processing.
● Sec, 4.2: Notwithstanding anything written in Sub-section (1) the responsibility for
the processing and management within the set standard of harmful waste, health
institution related waste, chemical waste or industrial waste shall be of the individual
or body producing such solid waste.
● Sec 5; Generation of Solid Waste to be Reduced

25
Section 2(j), Environment Protection Act, 2076 BS, Nepal.
26
Section 2(q), Environment Protection Act, 2076 BS, Nepal.
 ● Sec 6.1; The local body shall prescribe to separate the solid waste into at least organic
and inorganic including different kinds at its source.
● Sec. 12 Sanitary landfill site ; Can take land on lease and prescribe landfill site, shall
be according to prescribed environmental standards, initial environment examination
and the environment impact assessment report to be done,
● sec 12.9; The Local Body may declare, if necessary, a landfill site as a sensitive area
from the environmental context.
● Sec, 16 : may permit construction and operation of landfill site or other structures to
pvt. sector for solid waste management.
● Sec 18.2 ; The fixing of (Service) charge shall be made on the basis of quantity,
weight and nature of solid waste and other matters as prescribed by the Local Body
● Sec 20.1; The Local Body shall bear the responsibility of the managing the solid
waste collected from its area in a manner so that the adverse effects on the
environment would be minimized as less as possible.

Case laws:
Suray Prasad Sharma Dhungel v. Godavari Marble Industries and others27
● questions whether the Constitution guaranteed the right to a clean environment as a
part of the right to life and whether there was locus standi of NGOs or individuals
working for the protection of the environment.
The petitioners claimed that the respondents’ industrial activities had caused environmental
degradation to Godawari forest and its surroundings. The respondents’ factory emitted dust,
minerals, smoke and sands, which had excessively polluted the nearby water bodies, land and
atmosphere of the said area, thus causing danger to the property, life and health of the
people around. Thus the petitioners filed this writ petition seeking mandamus in the name of
the respondents, to enforce the right of the people to live in a healthy environment.
The court was of the view that a clean and healthy environment was part of the right to life
under Article 11 (1) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990. Life was threatened
in polluted environment and it was the legitimate right of an individual to be free from a
polluted environment. As the protection of environment was directly related with life of the
human being, it should be accepted that this matter was included in Article 11(1) of the
Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal (1990)
- public interest as a protectable fundamental right, environmental conservation as
basic Directive Principles of the State.; thus locus standi of applicant.
- industry was the foundation of development of the country. Both the country and
society needed development, but it was essential to maintain environmental balance
along with industry.
Taking into account the sensitive, humanitarian issue of national and international
importance such as the protection of the environment of Godawari area, the court decided
to issue directives in the name of the respondents to enforce the Minerals Act (1985), enact
necessary legislation for protection of air, water, sound and environment and to take action
for protection of the environment of Godawari area.

Shailendra Prasad Ambedkar v. Office of Prime Minister et. al.28

The Budget Draft for the fiscal year 2021/22 was passed through an Ordinance. The
petitioners in this case argued that adoption of the national budget through Ordinance was
largely unconstitutional and more minutely, took contention with point no. 199 of the Draft
which held that stone, gravel, and sand was to be exported to reduce the country’s trade
deficit following an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
The petitioners claimed that excavation of stone, gravel, and sand would reduce the fertile
plains of the Terai and Madhesh to barren land. The major geomorphic process in Churia

27
Suray Prasad Sharma Dhungel v. Godavari Marble Industries and others, Writ No. 35 of the year 2049 B.S
28
Shailendra Prasad Ambedkar v. Office of Prime Minister et. al., Writ no: 077-WC-0099
coupled with weak geology, heavy rainfall and tropical weathering also means that region
already experiences rapid fluvial erosion. Consequently, if excavation were to go ahead, entire
villages would face increased vulnerability to floods and agricultural practices indigenous to
the Terai region would be lost. Therefore, allowing excavation along the Chure Range would
be a flagrant violation of Article 30 of the Constitution which stipulates that every citizen
has the right to a clean and healthy environment. The petitioners specifically made their
claim based on Chure’s increased vulnerability to climate change.
- Court held that excavation of stone, gravel and sand would be tantamount to “ecocide”
and against the norm of environmental justice and inter-generational equity.
Although the State exercises permanent sovereignty over natural resources as a constituent
right of self-determination, precedent set by the Court prompts that the precautionary
principle be applied
- environmental complexity is increasing in Nepal due to climate change and urges the
government to be mindful towards the life of and within the Chure and not view it solely
from an economic lens
- an interim order from the Court stopped the draft budget from going through and the
Court also halted the planned excavation of the Chure range with an order of Certiorari.
However, on 2080/2/5 President Ram Chandra Paudel while announcing the policies and
programs for the fiscal year 2023/24 said that necessary legal arrangements will be made to
collect and distribute river-based stones, gravel, sand so as not to harm the environment.

PART - 4
Conclusion:
Increasing pressures on the environment due to population growth and the resulting
growing demands of agri-food, industrial, energy and transport systems, as well as their
emissions and waste, are leading to an acceleration of environmental degradation on a global
scale. Along with climate change, environmental pollution, and especially soil pollution, is
one of the main global challenges facing humanity today. Soil pollution is one of the major
threats to the world's soils and jeopardizes the provision of key soil ecosystem services,
including the provision of safe and nutritious food, the availability of clean water, and the
existence and conservation of soil biodiversity.
The main anthropogenic activities that are sources of soil contaminants, in order of global
importance, are industrial activities, mining, waste treatment, agriculture, extraction and
processing of fossil fuels, and emissions from transportation. There are significant
differences in the impact of these sources between regions, although there is no specific and
comparable data on the actual emissions of each sector in each region.
When soil contaminant attenuation capacity exceeds, soil pollution becomes a critical
concern for the health of the soil, the environment and people.
Wind and water erosion and runoff, loss of soil organic carbon, alterations in soil pH and
redox status, and changes in moisture and temperature regimes all contribute to the
remobilization of soil contaminants. Soil thus can become a source of contaminants for
other environmental compartments, including food, water, air, and terrestrial and aquatic
organisms and humans.
Ecosystem health and human health are therefore interconnected, as the “Planetary Health”
and “One Health” initiatives underline. Soil, as the foundation of terrestrial life and provider
of most of our food and water, should be at the heart of both initiatives, as neither can be
effectively addressed without tackling soil pollution.

Soil pollution is a global problem that has impacts at local and national levels and has
transboundary effects. Thus, International institutions have taken significant steps to raise
soil pollution as an issue of global concern to be addressed by all nations, for which various
guidelines, charters and conventions have been brought up. FAO under UNO has been a
leading International Institution working and highlighting this issue by various legal and
scientific approaches.
 However, while analyzing the legal provisions of Nepal, they don’t seem to have a specified
provision, but rather a more general one including all kinds of pollution. The Solid Waste
Management Act, 2068 BS somewhat tries to address the cause of soil pollution, but it also
functions as a general rule including all kinds of pollution(Air, Water, and Soil). On
Shailendra Pd Ambedkar’s Case, the court recognised the effects of climate change and
vulnerability of the Chure Range, thus protecting from excavation, and Godawari Marble
case recognised the right to environment and concept sustainable development. Yet, both
the cases are important from the environment perspective and not specified only to the soil
pollution.

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