Nepal authorities deploy security forces to clear garbage from Kathmandu

By By Binod Prasad Adhikari
Dhading/ Nuwakot [Nepal], June 7 : Authorities in Nepal deployed security forces on Tuesday to clear the garbage collected from the Kathmandu Valley as their agreement with the local residents of Sisdol in Nuwakot faced hurdles.
Residents of Sisodol and the authorities on Monday evening had reached an agreement which was expected to give relief to Kathmandu residents as garbage had accumulated for a month. But later the locals protested and rejected the terms of the agreement.
"We have been living with this garbage for 17-18 years. We are not in hurry nor we are stressed about it, for now, we had tried to resolve it but due to some agents and groups, the problem has worsened," Bale Bhujel Chhetri, a resident of Sisdol in Nuwakot District told ANI.
In an all-party discussion held at Nepal's Ministry of Urban Development with Minister Ram Kumari Jhakri on Monday evening, it was agreed to pick up garbage from Kathmandu and take it to Sisdol and Bancharedanda landfill sites.
As per the agreement, the Ministry of Urban Development has allocated Rs 425 million for river control work, construction of community buildings, temples and a tree plantation program. It was agreed to spend a total of Rs 21.2 million on this.
After receiving the report of environmental impact assessment regarding land acquisition, it was agreed to start the process of acquisition by identifying the land to be acquired on the basis of that report.
Similarly, it has been agreed to provide health insurance to the permanent residents of the affected areas by completing the procedure from the Nepal Health Insurance Board. The beneficiaries of the insurance service will be residents of Dhunibeshi Municipality's wards 1, 3, 4 and Kakani Rural Municipality's wards 1, 2 and 3.
It has been agreed to continue the grant provided in the past for the infrastructure development of the affected areas. The City has also announced that it will segregate solid waste as biodegradable and non-biodegradable at the source itself starting June 15.
Based on the report of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the process of removing odour by chemical or biological treatment will be started within 10 days. It has been agreed to make arrangements for lifting and covering the garbage with soil.
The Ministry of Urban Development has also announced plans to start the land acquisition drive in the affected area.
The locals now have demanded full implementation of previous agreements and terms that have been presented forward. An agitated group of locals came onto the road preventing garbage containing trucks to move forward which resulted in a clash with the Police.
Later, the police arrested 14 locals from the protest site and hold them for the entire day and escorted vehicles to the site.
"Their demands of health insurance, reconstruction of the road, construction of hospital and others, those have been committed by the government. Regarding the acquisition of land it would be done on the basis of the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, an agreement to that has been sealed a day earlier (Monday)," Engineer Madhav Katuwal from the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction under the Ministry of Urban Development told ANI.
Kathmandu on daily basis produces about 1,200 metric tons of waste either from businesses or households which has continued to pile up in the streets increasing the risk of the outbreak of a pandemic.
The Kathmandu Metropolitan 17 years before had selected Sisdol, as a landfill site for a couple of years but has been using it till date. An alternative to the existing landfill site has been located in Banchare of Dhading District which lately has come into operation but has to go through Sisdol whose road condition is pathetic.
The existing landfill site, Sisdol lies at a distance of about 20 kilometres from the core of Kathmandu while the new landfill site lies at a distance of about 50 kilometres from the centre of the capital.
Nepali capital Kathmandu is facing a problem with waste management as garbage from homes and various businesses is dumped in open spaces and points as the assigned local body, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office is not able to move them to landfill sites. It has been over two months that garbage dumped on roadsides and pavements hasn't been collected.