Landfill deal shaky due to slow implementation

Kathmandu, June 25: The agreement that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) reached with the locals of Sisdol and Banchare Danda concerning waste disposal risks collapse due to the slow progress in implementation.

The residents at the two places say that the metropolis is dragging its feet regarding the implementation of the 18-point agreement it reached with the Sisdol Banchare Danda Landfill Site Struggle Committee (SBDLSSC) on June 9.

“A fortnight has passed since the inking of the agreement but we do not see the KMC taking the waste management problems of these areas seriously,” Shreeram Dhungana, coordinator of the struggle committee said. 

According to Dhungana, the agreement will lose all meaning if KMC does not take prompt steps to implement it. “We have been deceived by fake promises before,” he said, remarking that the Sisdol and Banchare Danda were wary of being cheated again.

Signing the agreement, KMC committed to only transport its garbage to the dumping site at night, manage the garbage collected at Sisdol and Banchare Danda to eliminate the foul odour within a month and put a scientific system in place to prevent the leachate from the trash mixing with the water sources within two months.

At the time, the city officials assured that initiatives would be taken right away to begin addressing these issues. However, that has not happened, complained Dhungana.

If the metro does not act to implement the agreement soon, the locals will protest again and block waste disposal, he warned.

Meanwhile, Sarita Rai, chief of KMC’s environment department, said that the metro was coordinating with different government agencies to solve the waste issues at the landfill site. However, she acknowledged that it was taking more than expected due to resource limitations.

She informed that the city had incorporated the budget for waste management in the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23. “Once that budget is released, the work will speed up,” said Rai. 

She informed that KMC had started spraying chemicals in the landfill sites to remove the bad smell and soon would manage waste and leachate too.  

Similarly, Dr. Rabindra Prasad Dhakal, head of the faculty of Technology Introduction at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), said that they were preparing a report on the status measurement and classification of the waste materials disposed at the landfill. He said that they have also been working on the purification of the leachate. 

“The leachate will be treated so that it will not contaminate the riverwater,” said Dhakal.

However, he said that the Academy lack the necessary technology to identify the status of the contaminants. 

All the while, the optimism bred by the 18-point agreement among the locals of Sisdol and Banchare Danda is gradually turning to anger and threatens to erupt.