Kaski. Pokhara—Garbage collection that had not been collected for the past two weeks has begun in tourist capital Pokhara from Thursday evening.

Pokhara was foul as the garbage piled up on the roadsides and at the intersections of the market area had not been collected for a long time.

The garbage collection facility at Pokhara-32, Lameahal was not possible after the temporary waste management centre was full. Although the metropolis searched land for waste management in various places, it was not successful. The stench has also started spreading in the market as the garbage is piled up not only on the roadside, at the intersection and around the electric poles but also on the main road.

KMC mayor Dhanraj Acharya said the garbage collection vehicles have come into operation since Thursday evening. He also urged one and all not to dispose garbage on public roads and open spaces. Although the metropolis has started collecting the garbage, it has not disclosed where it will take it.

“The Pokhara Metropolitan City has been actively involved in waste management on immediate, short-term, temporary and permanent basis and we have made some arrangements for the same. “We have requested the people not to dispose of garbage on public roads and open spaces as the garbage has been collected for many days,” said Mayor Acharya.

Mayor Acharya said that all the garbage collected so far would be collected by Saturday. The KMC has also said that the monitoring team would take action if it was found throwing garbage haphazardly in public places. The landfill site at Lameahal was filled up after a huge amount of garbage was generated during the Genji agitation in Pokhara. In the meantime, the mayor had searched for the site of waste management in many places but could not succeed due to the opposition of the locals.

The KMC had called an all-party and all-party meeting of stakeholders on Wednesday to support the waste management. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Pokhara Metropolitan City would collect the garbage within 72 hours and the political parties would support it. The metropolis has initiated a process for permanent solution to the waste disposal by constructing a garbage treatment centre at Pokhara-33. But the locals have protested. Other works related to the construction of the processing centre have not moved ahead due to the protest of the locals. Locals have come out in protest saying that the metropolis has forwarded the process for the construction of the waste treatment center by selecting a private company without coordination and consent.