Kathmandu, February 8

Difficulty to manage the city waste has posed an additional challenge to Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

A long-term dumping site, which is under-construction at Bancharedanda and Sisdol landfill site has also reached its full capacity.

KMC has been dumping waste at Sisdol landfill site for quite long now. The waste collected from 18 local levels in Kathmandu valley has been managed at Sisdol landfill site in Nuwakot for the past 13 years. Around 1,000 metric tonnes of waste is generated on a daily basis in the valley. KMC alone generates 500 metric tonnes of waste on a daily basis. About 75 per cent of the waste generated from Kathmandu valley is dumped at Sisdol.

Although it is said that the construction work of the landfill site at Bancharedanda is being carried out with the goal of completing it within April, only 30 per cent of work has been completed. Agreement had been signed on 5 May 2019, with Lumbini Koshi and Neupane JV for construction of the sanitary landfill site at Bancharedanda within a year.

The contract is worth over Rs 346 million exclusive of VAT. It looks like the construction of the landfill site at Bancharedanda is not going to be completed within the one-year deadline due to the negligence on the part of the contractor.

Expressing concern over the delay in the construction of the infrastructure of the landfill site, KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya said KMC would find alternatives in case there were policy-level hurdles for construction of the landfill site. The Department of Urban Development and Building Construction admitted that construction could not be completed within the deadline due to slow progress of the work.

Authorities concerned have suggested to make it mandatory for every household to segregate waste at the source. KMC is working to dump waste at Sisdole landfill site for the time being as construction of an alternative dumping site is yet to be completed.