In whose backyard? Garbage disposal in the Kathmandu Valley has been disrupted since a week. Heaps of wastes are piling up for the seventh consecutive day on the roads and by lanes emitting odious odour. Apart from being unsightly, the garbage left thus is a health hazard. It is estimated that more than 3,000 metric tonnes of garbage has accumulated in this period. The reason for the garbage not being collected, managed and disposed is the obstruction posed by the locals of Okharpauwa where the landfill site is situated. Despite protracted negotiations between the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the agitating locals a deal has yet to be struck. The locals are demanding that the government issue them with a written commitment for waste management and also a package of development projects in the area. What must be mentioned here is that garbage management in the capital valley has proved to be arduous for successive governments. It is even alleged that there is politics involved. This is not the first time that the locals of Okharpauwa have obstructed the disposal of the garbage. Time and again they have done so citing that authorities have not met their demands. The way the locals of Okharpauwa see it which is a fact is that several commitments have not been met or they have been delayed. Meanwhile, the locals sometimes put unreasonable demands which the authorities are hard put to meet. Now that the talks are going on to resolve the row concerning the disposal of the garbage in the landfill site at Okharpauwa between the agitators and the Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre in an informal manner it is hoped that better sense will prevail. The demands of the locals are genuine when they insist upon the garbage being dumped in the landfill site be managed up to the international standards. It is apparent that the garbage dumped in the Okharpauwa landfill site poses some risks to the health of those residing in its vicinity for the wastes have not been managed thus. Furthermore, the authorities should make good on their commitments without delay and implement the pledges made. Citing shortage of funds and resources to do the same is a lame excuse. However, let us realize that nobody wants garbage dumped in his or her backyard. Now that the obstruction of the garbage disposal has caused immense risk to public health also because of the rains to the denizens of the valley the government has decided to step in. Hence, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has ordered the Home Minister and Local Development Minister to dispose off the garbage in the capital with the help of the administration. This shows that the Prime Minister is truly concerned and is willing to go to all extent to have the garbage disposed. But this would only be a short term solution and would provide the residents of the valley with only temporary respite. Long term solutions to the seemingly never-ending garbage disposal problem should be sought. It is said that the garbage could be managed better were they to be treated in special plants to give fertilizers and even electricity. This should also figure in future plans for waste management.

Fear of vaporising While an average consumer runs from pillar to post to get hold of a LPG cylinder for the hearth, the revelation that many “gas” industries have stacked a veritable treasure house of such cylinders in their warehouses must come as a greatest shock of recent times. The heavy dependence on fossil fuel for cooking purposes apart, the tendency of many a traders to short change the customers or sell at a premium is all because of the defective monitoring system that the government has put in place. Creating artificial scarcity and profiteering are both illegal, but the administration never seems to have the added strength to deal a severe blow to the perpetrators of such. The few recent raids carried out are praiseworthy in that, if it is regular feature of overseeing the market, it will come as relief to the people who for the most part live a life of subsistence. It is more than a few raids in Kathmandu that are needed. The whole network in the country has to come in for purview at any given time. If that is done, and strict action against the culprits guaranteed, it is possible that relief in real terms for the people will begin to flow.