Jun 10, Kathmandu: Garbage management in the Kathmandu Valley and other urban cities of the country has emerged as a challenge. As Kathmandu is also the capital of the country, it is natural that waste management should get more space here.

Garbage management depends on willpower and dedication to work.  This is not a big problem if you work honestly from the heart. Otherwise, the problem can be defined as it is. Garbage is the waste that is disposed of after it has been consumed.

Garbage production is a well-known issue along with human development. The issue of how waste was managed at the beginning of human development is a matter of history. Although some social norms in this regard exist in society. There is a belief in the village that defecation should not be immersed in water. Which is an important aspect of waste management.

In rural areas, the amount of decaying garbage is almost non-existent. This is because the leftover food from the kitchen is used to make kundo (food made for feeding livestock) for livestock. Paper, plastic, etc., which are produced as non-perishable waste, are incinerated in the yard. However, burning plastic items in the open is harmful to health.

Waste management from past to present

Initially, there is no clear record of the practice of waste management in the Kathmandu Valley. Due to the small population, low industrial activity, and sample vacant land available in the valley, the waste generated was either dumped on the river banks outside the urban areas or decomposed and used as organic manure in the agricultural sector. Garbage collection and disposal were the responsibility of Kuchikars.

In the old urban settlements of the valley, there were open spaces or courtyards between the houses. The garbage from the kitchen was collected in these places. The responsibility of collecting and disposing of garbage was shared equally by the surrounding households. Over time, the population of the valley increased. In the same proportion, the amount of garbage increased significantly.

Understanding the growing waste production and managerial challenges, then Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher established a sanitation facility in 1841 AD. The cleaning station used to appoint garbage collectors to collect and dispose of garbage from the courtyards, streets, and alleys.

In 1900 AD, the three cities of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur were established as municipalities. The responsibility of garbage management has been assigned to the concerned municipality. These municipalities started collecting garbage through Kuchikar and managing the collected garbage on the banks of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers.

The people were not satisfied with the manner of waste management adopted by the municipalities. People felt that this weakened the traditional practice of waste management through community participation. Waste management did not pose a serious problem before the 1930 AD. The garbage produced within the municipality was jointly managed by the city dwellers and the municipality.

Kuchikars, who is the manpower of the municipality, used to collect garbage and dispose of it. In 1931 AD, the responsibility of waste management in Kathmandu Valley was handed over to the Waste Management and Resource Mobilization Center with the help of the German Technical Assistance Agency (GTZ).

Some of the solid waste produced in the city area has been turned into organic manure by setting up a processing center at Teku in Kathmandu. Also, a sanitary landfill site was developed at Gokarna in 1986. Most of the waste generated in the valley was managed.

After the political changes in Nepal in 1940 AD, the officials who were given the responsibility of waste management in the waste management and resource mobilization center started changing continuously after the change of government. Landfill sites also started operating indiscriminately. In 1943  AD, GTZ withdrew its financial support. Responsibility for waste management was handed over to the municipality.

At the same time, the role of government and municipality in waste management was unclear. Disputes arose among themselves. However, in the end, the dispute was settled with the government managing the landfill site and the municipality taking responsibility for the daily waste management and disposal. Due to a lack of proper waste management, locals blocked the entry of garbage trucks at the landfill site in Gokarna.

During this period, garbage was piled up in various places within the Kathmandu Valley. The city itself became foul-smelling. Due to a lack of proper space for waste management, Kathmandu Metropolitan City has to dump garbage even in Tundikhel. During this period, garbage was dumped on the banks of the Bagmati River near Balkhun in Kathmandu, ignoring the impact on water resources and human health.

The selection and development of a sanitary landfill site for the disposal of solid waste posed a major challenge to the government. Meanwhile, the government decided to build a landfill site at Bancharedanda in Okharpauwa VDC of Nuwakot district, about 18 km from Kathmandu.

Until the development of the Bancharedanda landfill site, the Sisdol and Altar sites, located 2 km southeast of the site, were temporarily constructed and waste disposal was started in 1949 AD. An environmental impact assessment of the area was completed and a report was made public before the construction of the Sisdol landfill site.

However, as time went by, the locals and the residents of the garbage dump started protesting. Until the construction of the Bancharedanda landfill site, the capacity of the Sisdol and Altar sites selected for short-term waste management was exhausted.

However, the locals continue to protest as the work of dumping garbage continues. It is pertinent to discuss the reasons for the lack of proper waste management after examining the realities related to waste management in the Kathmandu Valley from the past to the present.

According to the source, the modern style of waste management in the Kathmandu Valley started at the Gokarna landfill site. Gokarna Valley's garbage was piled up for 15 years.  After the capacity of the landfill site of Gokarna was completed, garbage started accumulating on the river bank of Kathmandu Valley.

After the Gokarna period, Kathmandu and Lalitpur started dumping garbage on the banks of the Bagmati river and Bhaktapur on the banks of Hanumante. The garbage of the valley, which had started to be organized, became unmanageable again. The municipalities of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur also tacitly agreed.

Although Bagmati and Hanumante were polluted by the garbage of the valley, Hutram Vaidya launched the Bagmati civilization campaign. The campaign partially banned the dumping of garbage in the Bagmati. Despite the ban on dumping garbage in the river, sewage is being mixed in the river.

It was decided to manage the garbage in Okharpauwa / Sisdol of Nuwakot as garbage could not be dumped in Bagmati. On 05 June 2005, on the World Environment Day at  Sisdole of Nuwakot garbage was taken to the dump from the valley.

When the garbage was dumped at Sisdole, the valley produced 375 metric tons of garbage daily. According to this calculation, a landfill site has been constructed in Sisdole for dumping garbage for three years. The people of Sisdole who welcomed the garbage truck driver by worshiping 17 years ago, never imagined that such a horrible situation would happen after 17 years.

 During this period, the waste emission capacity of the valley has also increased. At present, 1,045 metric tons of garbage reach Sisdole daily from the Kathmandu Valley. The Sisdole landfill site, built for three years has now become a mound of rubbish. The metropolis has been dumping garbage by making four big khandas / chauras by cutting the hills around them.

Sisdole was made for temporary purposes. Before the end of Sisdole, there was a plan to build a permanent landfill site on the nearby Banchare hill. However, due to tensions between the metropolis, the federal government, and the investment board, a landfill site could not be built on Banchare Danda.

Locals initially protested against the construction of a landfill site on Banchare Danda. After persuading the locals, it was decided to build a landfill site in 2009 Ad in a public-private partnership model. The Sisdole which had been ready for three years was full before the work on the Banchare Danda landfill site started. According to the initial commitment, a landfill site was to be constructed at Banchare Danda in 2009 AD.

Two years later, in 2011 Ad, the government led by Baburam Bhattarai gave the responsibility of constructing a landfill site at Banchare Danda to the Investment Board. Kathmandu metropolis got angry after handing over the landfill site to the Investment Board. The metropolis stopped work saying it should get a job.

The Board of Investment has approved a detailed project report (DPR) since 2072 to allow a private company called KNEP West to build a landfill site and also to process waste. However, the work did not move forward due to the obstruction of the metropolis.

The center had said that the landfill site could not be constructed as the head of the metropolis Vidya Sundar Shakya did not sign the paper to start the construction of the landfill site. In a meeting convened by the Board of Investment on September 6, 2018 Ad to solve the problem of waste management in the valley, metropolitan chief Shakya took a stand not to allow the work of Banchare Danda to move forward until an alternative to Sisdol is found for three years.

After the metropolis stopped the work, the government snatched the work from the hands of the board and gave the responsibility to the Ministry of Urban Development to build the Banchare Danda landfill site.

Then in 2019 Ad, a contract was signed to build a landfill site at Banchare Danda. According to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, a contract agreement was signed with Lumbini-Kosi & Neupane JV (Undertaking) to complete the work within a year to build a sanitary landfill site at Banchare Danda.

Excluding VAT, the mobilization amount of Rs. 68 million was paid to the contractor within three months after the agreement was signed for Rs. 346.87 million. Meanwhile, the ownership of the contractor company changed to Kosi & Neupane. Due to this, the work was stopped due to a problem with the details of the advance amount of Rs. 68 million was given to the contractor for Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) and mobilization.

January 7,2019 AD  Contractor submits revised work schedule. But, it didn't work. When the garbage of the valley does not rise, the representatives of the metropolis do nothing but reach Sisdole in a huddle. Not only the representatives of the metropolis but also the team of ministers often visit Sisdole.

Bidya Sundar Shakya, who is considered to be the successor of Keshav who promised to make Kathmandu a green and beautiful city, visits Sisdol every time there is a problem and returns.

On Nov2 2021 AD, the then Urban Development Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha visited the Banchare Danda landfill site. Earlier, Minister of State for Urban Development Ram Bir Manandhar had also arrived. A team from the Development and Technology Committee of the Parliament had also reached Banchare Danda.

The metropolis, which has not been able to construct an alternative landfill site in time and repair the road leading to the existing landfill site, is requesting the people of the valley not to throw garbage on the road. Chief of the metropolis Bidya Sundar Shakya has requested to manage garbage inside the house for a few days.

Chief of the metropolis Shakya had said that the responsibility of waste management in the valley would not be taken only by the metropolis. The current problem would not have arisen if the infrastructure of the long-term landfill site at Banchare Danda had been constructed and handed over to the metropolis.

The construction has not been completed yet, 'said Shakya. However, its fault and responsibility have to be borne by the metropolis alone. The state and federal governments need equal support to solve this problem. ' Mayor Shakya is expressing helplessness by saying, "It is possible to put non-perishable garbage in the corner of the house. It was Shakya who prevented the Board of Investment from building the Banchare Danda landfill site.

but newly elected Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balendra Shah (Balen) and Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol on Friday inspected Sisdole and Bancharedanda of Nuwakot in the Kathmandu Valley.

He had discussed the issue with the residents of the area. Garbage disposal started on 11 April in a cell of a landfill site recently constructed in Bancharedanda. But the locals have obstructed the dumping of garbage there. In the Sisdol area where garbage has been dumped before, there is no possibility of dumping more garbage due to excessive dumping of garbage. Locals are angry as some trucks have dumped garbage on the side of the road.

Local people's representatives and civic leaders complained that they had been repressed by the police administration, demanding that they be allowed to live in a healthy environment. They demanded proper management of garbage or locals as humans and garbage cannot live in the same place.

After hearing the problems and complaints of the locals, Mayor Sah assured to take immediate measures to remove the odor by keeping chemicals. He also said that arrangements would be made to separate and decompose the perishable and non-perishable garbage and to raise public awareness for that.

"It simply came to our notice then that people were dying for five minutes without littering," said Mayor Sah. Garbage has not been picked up in Kathmandu for about one month. Residents of the metropolis are keeping garbage inside their houses as there is no solution for dumping the garbage.

Headline Nepal  Presenter Sanjeeb Regmi has given the latest update about the waste management area. He has talked with some locals too. According to them, garbage has made the water of the village unfit for human consumption. The water flowing down the river from the garbage has made the river equally foul-smelling.

If only the feet were chopped there, the villagers would not be able to sleep all night. Water makes you sick. The villagers have complained that the field is becoming barren as the same water has been taken to the field.

Two small tanks have been constructed along the river bank so that the waste water does not flow into the river. The villagers are complaining, 'How can there be water falling from so many hills? That is the fair of spending government money.

The people of Sisdol had been agitating for 13 years since the metropolis started dumping the garbage. At the same time, the state had dared to suppress the voices of the people of Sisdole who were agitating that garbage was not managed as per the agreement and no compensation was received. Was also suppressed.

The residents of Sisdole retaliated after the dog chills made the village smelly and polluted by bringing carcasses from the garbage dumps and the polluted water from the garbage was mixed in the drinking water source of the village. However, instead of meeting the demands of the people of Sisdol, the state resorted to repression. Even for a decade and a half, the state has been oppressing the helpless people.

The villagers used to retaliate when the stench of garbage became excessive. The media in Kathmandu used to write news, ‘Locals obstructed, did not allow garbage to be dumped. They still come. Police and army units have been deployed in Sisdo with weapons to defeat the locals. When the villagers resisted, the security guards would beat them. How many are taken away and imprisoned? That's where they beat. They fear suing in public.

According to one local,  says, ‘The wind keeps coming. I closed the door all night, and when I opened the door in the morning, I could smell it. He went to stop the garbage of the vehicle, beat him, and chased him away. Takes and kneels. We have not survived. As soon as the truck crashes, the army police arrive. And it is better to live with the disease than to be beaten. '

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