Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: High-level inter-agency discussion has been held on the existing problems of garbage management in the Kathmandu Valley, its solution and long-term management measures.

The meeting held under the chairmanship of Minister for Information and Communications and Member of House of Representatives from Nuwakot constituency-1, Dr Bikram Timilsina, was attended by chiefs of various local levels in the Kathmandu Valley, officials of the Department of Environment, chiefs of bodies related to waste management, waste management experts and representatives of the locals affected by the Bancharedanda garbage dump site.

The discussion on the present status of the Bancharedanda Sanitary Landfill Site, the problems seen there, the complaints of the locals of the affected areas and the future course of action drew a conclusion that although the waste management was the responsibility of the local level, coordination among the federal, local level and all bodies concerned was necessary for long-term solution.

On the occasion, Minister for Information and Communications Dr Timilsina said the government has accorded top priority to the problems of the residents of the Bancharedanda disaster affected areas and the management of garbage. He added that although problems were seen in waste management in the past, now the government will move seriously to resolve it.

“The government is ready to make all possible efforts to resolve the policy-level and practical problems. The federal government is very serious about solving the problem of waste management. All the municipalities and bodies should also extend support from their respective places,” he said.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina said that the constitution and law have given responsibility to the local level for the management of garbage. He also pledged that the federal government would facilitate and support the local levels.

He also expressed the commitment that the federal government would finalize the issue of land acquisition required for waste management soon. Discussions are underway to amend the legal provisions if necessary and to provide the land to the local government even if it is leased, he added.

“The government is committed to untangling problems related to land acquisition. Similarly, the government is committed to untangle the problems related to NepWaste that have been stuck in litigation for a long time after signing an agreement for waste management many years ago. The government is ready to make a breakthrough by identifying who is responsible where, who has to work what and where problems have surfaced in course of working,” he said. The local governments said that they were finding it difficult to work at present due to the agreement signed between Nepali company Organic Village and Finnish company Computer Oy’s joint venture company Nepwest and related issues.

Likewise, on the occasion, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina stressed the need to move ahead on the basis of clear division of work and responsibility in the name of resolving the problem of waste management.

Waste management is our responsibility, we do it ourselves: Local Level

On the occasion, chiefs of the local levels expressed their commitment to manage the waste of their municipalities on their own and demanded necessary facilitation from the federal government. Acting Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Sunita Dangol said there was a tendency of politics and blaming each other in waste management in the past.

She was of the view that while solving the problem of waste, one should go to the root of it and find a way to manage the waste at the source. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has been carrying out works responsibly in the management of garbage, underscoring short-term, mid-term and long-term plans. He said that the task of waste management would be easier if the issues related to Nepwaste could be resolved.

Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Chiri Babu Maharjan, said that the metropolis has not been able to manage the waste on its own as the agreement with Nepwest is still in force. Urging the government to scrap the agreement which is outside his jurisdiction, he expressed the view that it would be easier for the local levels to work if today’s meeting could be made a starting point for resolving the problems.

Similarly, Mayor of Budhanilkantha Municipality, Mitharam Adhikari, said that although the municipality wanted to manage the waste on its own, it has not been able to move ahead due to various cases and court orders.

Mayor of Tokha Municipality, Prakash Adhikari, said that the municipality was ready to provide necessary financial and other support for the management of garbage as it was the common responsibility of all. Stating that different technologies could be employed for waste processing, he stressed the need for an integrated plan and long-term mechanism.

Bal Krishna Acharya, mayor of Dhunibesi Municipality, said that the problem of waste management has not been resolved despite several agreements have been signed in the past. He said that an environment should be created to manage the waste of the municipality by reviewing these agreements.

Krishna Man Dangol, mayor of Kirtipur Municipality, said that the municipality would implement a plan to manage its waste within the next six months. He said that other municipalities should also learn from the practices being carried out by Kirtipur in the field of waste management.

Likewise, Mayor of Dakshinkali Municipality Mohan Basnet said that the segregation of waste has been started for the last three months, which has helped reduce the amount of waste. He said that the people’s representatives of all the local levels should make commitment to manage the waste within their own municipality.

Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Gopal Prasad Sigdel, underscored the need for all levels to take responsibility for the long-term solution of waste management. Stating that problem could not be resolved by blaming each other, he stressed the need for joint efforts of all local levels and bodies concerned.

Chief of Environment Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Sarita Rai, made a presentation on the condition of the Bancharedanda waste management site and its future management. As per the presentation, 1,792 ropanis of land has been acquired in Bancharedanda area. However, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is yet to receive official documents related to the land acquired in the area, which is 24 kilometers away from Balaju.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Metropolitan City and Budhanilkantha Municipality 5 percent had the share of waste generated from 21 municipalities in the waste generated from different 21 municipalities. Proposals have been put forward to take waste management to a decentralized model, to establish technology for the reuse and recycling of dry waste in the local level itself, to produce organic fertilizer and energy from biodegradable waste and to establish resource recovery technology in Bancharedanda.

Likewise, priority has been given to making the waste collection and transportation service effective and paying attention to the service satisfaction of the citizens. The Waste Management Act has made provision for the local levels to manage their waste on their own and the local levels should formulate a plan accordingly.

It was shared that Rs 1.04 billion has been spent so far for the infrastructure development of the Bancharedanda waste management site and contracts worth Rs 516.3 million are in the works. During the discussion, it was shared that 875 households in an area of 539 hectares were directly affected by the Bancharedanda landfill site while the area up to three kilometers from the border of the landfill site was indirectly affected.

The affected locals have demanded the government to form a Garbage Development Authority to resolve the problem of garbage management in a long-term manner. They have urged the government to implement past agreements and agreements, resolve problems in the affected areas and gradually reduce the dependence on Bancharedanda.

The discussion also took up the need of formulating an action plan in such a way that there is no need to transport garbage from the Kathmandu Valley to Bancharedanda within four years. To this end, it was necessary to reduce waste generation, segregate waste at source, increase reuse and recycling, and promote circular economy practices. Waste management, classification, reuse and environment conservation should be included in the school curriculum to raise public awareness.

Chiefs and representatives of various municipalities in the Kathmandu Valley including Madhyapur Thimi, Changunarayan, Budhanilkantha, Tokha, Dakshinkali among others, chief of the environment section, experts involved in the study and research of waste management and representatives of the affected areas were present in the discussion.