KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Local Development has finalised the draft of Waste Management Bill 2066 BS, which suggests integrated approaches among waste management authorities, allowing the private sector to dispose of garbage.

According to the ministry sources, the Cabinet has already approved the draft and it will be forwarded to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Constituent Assembly Affairs tomorrow.

The Bill includes the concepts of public-private partnership, permission to the private sector for waste management and environmental perspective as the rights of people to live in a healthy way, said Dipendra Oli, legal officer at the

Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre, MoLD.

“The bill has taken the issue of strikes and obstruction in waste management process in a serious way,” he added.

Oli said a separate body would be formed to manage garbage in the Valley. “It will be mandatory for the valley denizens to separate degradable and non-degradable waste at their homes. They can be penalised if they do not separate waste,” he added.

He said the Bill will be tabled in the ongoing House session for final approval.

Minister for Local Development Ram Chandra Jha said the Bill must be endorsed from the parliament within a month.

“Or else, we will be considered incapable to settle the garbage problem,” he said, adding, “If the local governments fail to settle the problem, the government should intervene.”

The Waste Management Act was amended last year and it had given the authority to the municipalities to dispose the garbage. However, the unmanaged garbage has become a persisting problem for the valley denizens.

According to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, about 300 tons of garbage is produced in the metropolis alone.

Though 114 institutions are working to manage waste in the KMC, it is still a stinking city, an official at the MoLD said.