Irate locals not likely to allow dumping in Sisdole landfill site till their demands are met
KATHMANDU, JUNE 7
Mountains of garbage piles on the roadside inside Kathmandu valley have become common sight for commuters who often walk past as fast as possible covering their face in bid to escape the foul smell emanating from these garage piles.
The issue of waste management inside the capital is not new, with not a single permanent landfill site in the country yet. Besides, the government has also not introduced any policies on waste segregation and management either. Waste collected inside the valley has been dumped at Sisdole landfill site, around 18 kilometre west of Kathmandu Ring Road, in Nuwakot district, for the last 17 years.
Ironically, this landfill site, when used for the first time on 5 June 2005, was said to be able to hold Kathmandu's waste for not more than three years. During those days an average of 700 metric tonnes of waste was generated in the valley in a day and the capacity of the site was calculated at around 445,000 metric tonnes of waste. Today, around 12,000 metric tonnes of waste is produced in a day inside the valley. This means the landfill site could be filled in just a year. However, this very site has been overused all these years. The site, which once used to be a deep land area, has now become a 30-metre tall mountain of garbage. Garbage is still dumped there.
Locals living around Sisdole site have accused the government of tricking them with false promises and dumping garbage at the site compromising the health of the locals. Meanwhile, the government has nearly completed construction of the much-hyped Banchare Danda Sanitary Landfill Site constructed around two kilometres away from the Sisdole site, which is said, will solve the waste management woes of Kathmandu residents for over 100 years if used properly.
But, before the inauguration of Banchare Danda site, locals obstructed vehicles carrying waste.
Although they had partially blocked the roads earlier, the vehicles were completely halted from May 25. It was the day security forces used force to disperse the locals and tried to operate Banchare Danda site forcefully.
Around a dozen locals were injured in the incident.
Following the incident, the locals reiterated that their demands must first be fulfilled by the government and only then they would allow the garbage to be managed at the site. Only yesterday, local leaders along with Minister of Urban Development Ram Kumari Jhankri, Balen Shah, mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, had reached an agreement.
Of the many demands, the government had agreed to fulfil the prime demands such as immediate action to build road segments in their area, to build hospitals in the area, health insurance for people living around the area, and job for at least one member of each family living in the area.
With this, the KMC had hoped to resume transporting waste to the landfill site. But, to the utter surprise of the government, the locals did not abide by the agreement saying that such agreement wouldn't materialise and they would be tricked again.
Ram Hari Ghimire, a local activist who headed the coordination committee when waste management was carried out at Sisdole for the first time in June 2005, said the government needed to get into action to win the hearts of the locals. Ghimire said that one of the major issues ignored by the government was creation of a buffer zone around the landfill site.
"There are around seven villages that are directly affected by the landfill site in three districts: Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Dhading. People in these villages live in fear of an outbreak of contagious diseases at any time and they would be the first victims. So they want the government to create a buffer zone before operating the area as landfill site." Ghimire added that such buffer zone would cover around 1,500 ropani (over 75,000 square kilometre area.
Apart from this, Ghimire said that the federal Cabinet should form an all-powerful committee that should be given authority to tackle all kinds of waste management issues through one-door policy.
"Until and unless a powerful committee is formed that works by coordinating among various local levels and federal government, such problems will rise frequently," Ghimire said.
Meanwhile, local leaders who signed the agreement yesterday have retracted from their promises after the locals continued with their protest.
Suman Tamang 'Sajjan' mayor of Kakani Rural Municipality who signed yesterday's agreement said, "It is not up to us to deal with the issue now and we are with the locals and we demand that the federal government create an environment for us to trust them."
A version of this article appears in the print on June 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.