Kathmandu, September 11

After facing a week of obstruction by locals of Okharpauwa in Nuwakot, Kathmandu Metropolitan City has finally resumed waste collection from across the city and started disposal of waste at the Sisdole landfill site.

A meeting between the locals and KMC had reached agreement early on Saturday morning that would allow KMC to dispose the city’s waste at the landfill site. However, the metropolis had to face a hard time removing the garbage that had accumulated at major intersections across the city.

According to KMC, waste piled up at most places of the Valley has been removed and the city’s waste management is slowly returning to normal. “It took us some time to clear the waste that had piled up every day due to the obstruction that lasted some days, but now we have been able to remove garbage from most places,” Co-spokesperson at the KMC Namaraj Dhakal told The Himalayan Times. “The city’s waste management is gradually becoming normal and we hope that both sides will stick to the agreement,” he added.

Agitating locals of Okharpauwa had agreed on September 9 to lift their obstruction after KMC and other stakeholders committed to address their demands.

Chief at the Environment Management Division of KMC Rabin Man Shrestha, who was also present in the meeting, said the locals agreed to lift their obstruction after KMC committed to address their demands on short and long-term bases.

As part of KMC’s short-term commitments under the agreement, the metropolis will provide an ambulance to the locals and dump garbage at the landfill site in an organised manner, among other things. Likewise, KMC has pledged to make arrangement for providing compensation to Okharpauwa locals in the future. The protesting locals’ demands include compensation and jobs for them, among other things.

Kathmandu Valley produces more than 300 metric tonnes waste every day. It had long been using the Sisdole landfill site to dump waste.

Also, earlier on August 25 and 26, locals of Aathmile and its vicinity in Nuwakot had obstructed waste disposal demanding construction of a road in the locality. On August 26, they withdrew their obstruction following talks with KMC, the Department of Roads, transportation entrepreneurs, police, traffic police and political parties.

The locals had, then, stopped their protest after the road department agreed to repair the highway and transportation entrepreneurs pledged to operate three buses on the route. The government had chosen Okharpauwa as the landfill site for two years. It has planned a huge landfill site at Banchare Danda to be used for the next 50 years. According to KMC, obstruction to waste disposal at the dumping site has remained a longstanding problem for the metropolis.