Kathmandu, April 28:

Executive officers of 25 different municipalities across the country gathered here today to make plans to expedite the management of municipal waste and to formulate long-term vision on municipal waste management.

In the two-day workshop organised by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in partnership with Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre, the municipal officials and experts will dwell on proper management of municipal waste that is increasing by the day.

The management of municipal waste has been a problem in most of the big cities across the country, the officers said, adding that the lack of proper management of waste is having a bad impact on public health.

They said adequate resources, technology and manpower were needed to manage the waste in a proper way.

Experts said management of household waste is one of the challenges that could be addressed at the household level.

They called on municipalities to focus on making people aware of household waste management, which would reduce the quantity of waste to be managed by the municipalities.

Dr Roshan Raj Shrestha, chief technical advisor of the UN-HABITAT, said that composting of decomposable household waste, construction of wastewater treatment plants and eco-sanitary toilets could help in the management of municipal waste.

Director of the Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre Niwas Chandra Shrestha said the policies should focus on long-term plans rather than on short-term and temporary solutions to municipal waste management.

Application of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) programme for municipal waste management could generate income and reduce carbon emission side by side.

The workshop will select five municipalities to formulate a new strategy for municipal waste management.

With the assistance of the UN-HABITAT and the Centre, these municipalities will develop future plan and guidelines on waste management, provide training to the municipal staff and design alternatives to existing solid waste management practices.

An agreement has already been reached for support from the UN-HABITAT and the centre to facilitate municipalities in formulating the guidelines and increasing their capacity.

Capacity of all 58 municipalities in the country would also be developed to generate money through the use of Clean Development Mechanism technologies.