Kathmandu, December 3:

Like history repeats itself, the garbage story repeated in Kathmandu today.

The disruption in disposal of garbage came after the locals of the three VDCs affected by the Okharpauwa Landfill Site barred the Kathmandu Metropolitan City from disposing the garbage, demanding the formation of a new main coordination committee.

Issuing a statement, the locals of Okharpauwa, Chauthe and Chhatre Deurali VDCs have announced to disrupt the garbage transportation for an indefinite period beginning today. They have also have put forth a number of demands including development works in the villages.

Sriram Dhungana, the treasurer of the outgoing Okharpauwa Sanitary Landfill Site Main Coordination Committee, demanded that the government revitalise the earlier agreement made with the locals. He said the government has been playing with the health of the locals by ignoring the safety measures.

He said the government had promised to develop a master plan to develop the affected areas on par with a municipality but nothing has been done in this regard so far. We will not let the garbage carrying trucks enter the area until our safety is guaranteed, he added. He said the government has also failed to provide the promised ambulance.

“We have not been informed about the progress on Banchare Danda Sanitation Landfill Site, which is situated some 1.5 km ahead of the Sisdole site,” he said.

Sriram Dhungana of Chauthe, Machchindra Raj Pathak of Chhatre Deurali, Dhading and Bidur Ghimire of Okharpauwa have signed the statement issued on behalf of the locals. Meanwhile, chief of the environment section of the KMC Rabin Man Shrestha said there is no alternative to seek an alternative to the existing landfill site to avoid frequent disruptions in garbage disposal.

Chief Executive Officer of KMC Dinesh Thapaliya said he would not negotiate with the locals anymore and that the KMC has sought a temporary alternative site to manage the garbage of the city for a few days. He said the KMC is also exploring few more places to dump the garbage as part of the temporary solution.

He said the locals’ demands are not linked to the KMC and if they have any demands with the KMC, the metropolis is ready to negotiate.

However, general manager of the Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre Nibash Chandra Shrestha said the locals have informed that they would come up with the proposal for a new Main Coordination Committee within a day or two and the problem will be be solved soon. Shrestha said the Centre has already allocated Rs 1 crore for the development of the four VDCs, including Jeetpurphedi, affected by the Okharpauwa Landfill Site. He also said a meeting of the secretaries of the five ministries concerned held twice at the Ministry of Local Development recently has also agreed to meet all the demands of the people living in the affected VDCs.