Dhangadi, December 4

As uncertainty prevails over the proposed integrated waste management centre in Dhangadi Sub-metropolis, the same has affected work of the regional urban development project.

Land for the proposed centre has been identified in Baiyabehadi, Dhangadi sub-metropolis, but construction of the centre at the site has become impossible due to locals’ protest, the regional project implementation unit of Dhangadi said.

Further, the unit informed that the contract between Asian Development Bank and Nepal Government states clearly that there shouldn’t be any dispute over the project site for the work to start.

According to the project implementation unit engineer and Information Officer Shyamchandra Budhathoki, ADW won’t issue permission to start any work as long as the dispute remains.

“No donor agency is willing to work at a site where there is dispute. In the case of the proposed centre, the dispute regarding the selected site has hampered further work,” Budhathoki said, adding that there were chances that the project would freeze if the dispute is not settled in time. As per the plan, every pre-construction work including design and estimates should be over by the end of this year, which will then clear the stage for work from next year.

Meanwhile, in Kanchanpur’s Bhimdatta Municipality too, construction of the proposed integrated waste management centre has yet to materialise amidst the dispute. A site has been identified in Bhimdatta Municipality for the proposed facility, but construction is yet to begin.

Regional Urban Development Project has been implemented in four local bodies in the Far-west Province since 2017 August.