As waste management has become expensive, households and businesses must be made to pay for it
The stalemate over garbage disposal is over, but can the residents of the Kathmandu Valley remain assured that there will not be obstruction from the locals again in ferrying waste to the newly-constructed landfill site at Bancharedanda in Nuwakot? Kathmandu has never been able to free itself of the garbage problem for decades due to obstructions created time and again by the locals living along the way to the dumping site, resulting in heaps of uncollected waste on the streets overnight. Last year, uncollected garbage started heaping in April and August and again in February this year because the concerned authorities would not keep the promises made with the locals living around the Sisdole dumping site. So will the authorities renege on the 18-point agreement reached between the locals and the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and a separate one with the Ministry of Urban Development on Friday? The locals are hopeful that things will be different this time, given that a dynamic young Balen Shah is at the helm of KMC.
The Kathmandu Valley generates about a thousand tons of garbage daily, and all 18 municipalities of the valley, barring Bhaktapur, depend on the landfill site in Nuwakot to dispose of their waste. So one can well imagine what happens to the garbage if it is not collected even for a day. Garbage had not been collected regularly weeks before the local election of May 13, a reason why the new KMC mayor made garbage disposal his topmost priority upon assuming office on May 30.
Apart from heaps of waste at street crossings and roadsides, it is also being dumped on the riversides, threatening to pollute the valley's rivers even more. It is likely to take about two weeks to rid Kathmandu's streets of its garbage. Since garbage can only be transported to Bancharedanda at night under the agreement, the KMC must upgrade the road and put up street lights within three months.
The KMC also has the immediate task of making Bancharedanda stench-free and preventing leachate from mixing with river water or spilling onto the streets.
As for the other commitments, such as acquiring the land affected by the landfill site, they will take time as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has to be conducted, which could take more than a year. Although an EIA has been conducted on about 1,700 ropanis of land, the locals want the government to acquire about 3,500 ropanis costing billions of rupees. Before acquiring the land, the locals want some of the Guthi land transferred in their names, too. This, however, requires amending the Guthi Act, which could trigger a lot of debate, as it would allow the transfer of Guthi land into private property elsewhere as well. The problem can be solved if the garbage issue is not politicised by the parties and locals out for immediate political and monetary gains.Waste management is proving to be expensive, given that trucks must travel more than 25 kilometres to dispose of garbage while having to return empty.
Households and businesses must, thus, be made to pay accordingly so that it is a win-win situation for the valley's residents, the KMC and the locals who are affected at Sisdole and Bancharedanda.
Monsoon havoc
The heavy monsoon rains that arrived in Nepal one week earlier than usual have damaged sections of Prithivi and Mugling-Narayangadh highways, leaving thousands of passengers stranded on the roads for hours. The Department of Roads was struggling to clear the debris that had fallen on the busy highways from above. While a heavy landslide on the Mugling-Narayangadh highway blocked vehicles for several hours, a section of the Prithvi Highway at Anbukhaireni caved in after a flooded Marsyangdi River cut the road from beneath, completely disrupting vehicular movement to and from Pokhara.
After the section of the Prithvi Highway caved in, the Tanahun local administration has asked heavy vehicles to use alternative routes so that light vehicles could be operated only during the daytime. It will take a few more days to construct a diversion on the damaged section of the Prithvi Highway, which is the lifeline of the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara. As the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has already forecast more than average rainfall in the region west of Bagmati Province, the government must be fully prepared to provide rescue and relief operation to the people who could be affected by the natural disaster.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 13, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.