SC orders KMC to collect garbage of Singha Durbar in 3 days

Liladhar Upadhyaya,Kathmandu, Apr. 22:The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday issued an order against Kathmandu Metropolitan City to collect and manage garbage of Singha Durbar and Office of the President within three days. 

The SC issued the order in response to a writ petition filed against the decision of the KMC mayor not to collect the garbage from the central secretariat citing that the federal government was not cooperating with the KMC in many issues of development and management of the capital city. 

Mayor of the KMC, Balendra Shah, through his tweets, had informed that the KMC was not collecting the garbage to exert pressure on the federal government to listen to the concerns of the KMC. 

A single bench of Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut asked the KMC to collect and manage the garbage of the Office of the President and Singha Durbar within three days from the day of the issuance of the order.

The KMC had stopped collecting garbage from Singha Durbar since April 7 following the instruction of Mayor Shah. The KMC was also not collecting the garbage from Sheetal Niwas, the Office of the President, and Baluwatar, the official residence of the Prime Minister.  

Since then, the government and the KMC were in tussle following clarification of Mayor Shah in social site as to why Shah resorted to the decision and the government claiming that the KMC, a responsible local government, had no option but to collect the garbage. 

The SC also drew the attention of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers to coordinate with concerned stakeholders and authorities to manage landfill sites for the management of garbage. 

Advocate Padam Bahadur Shrestha had moved the SC against the statement and decision of the KMC mayor not to collect garbage from Singha Durbar. 

As the Article 214 (1) and (2) and Schedule 8 of the Constitution of Nepal state that the sole responsibility to collect the garbage falls on the local government, the KMC has the duty to manage the garbage of the Singha Durbar, the order has said. 

The SC issued the order in the name of KMC to collect and manage garbage within three days, citing the fundamental rights of Article 30 (1) of the Constitution, which states that each citizen has the right to live in a fair and healthy environment.