LMC asks federal govt to take lead in establishing waste processing plant

By A Staff Reporter, Lalitpur, Nov. 25:The Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) has asked the federal government to take the lead in establishing a waste processing plant. 

Writing a letter to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Wednesday, LMC Mayor Chiri Babu Maharjan said that a processing plant was a must to solve the problem of legacy waste at the Okharpauwa landfill site and to generate electricity, gas and fertiliser from the disposed garbage.

Legacy waste are the waste materials that have been collected and kept for years at some dedicated place.

Talking to The Rising Nepal on Thursday, Mayor Maharjan said that this proposal was based on the learnings and observations he made during his recent trip to India. 

Maharjan led an LMC team to India from November 1 to 11 at the invitation of the Indian government. There, he visited New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Indore, Pune and Gorakhpur and gathered information about waste management, traffic management, road infrastructure, public security and good governance. 

"Ahmedabad and Pune, in particular, have made great strides in managing their legacy waste and their model can be replicated here," Maharjan said, informing that the two cities had been processing "piles of trash as big as hills" and selling the products made. 

This has allowed them to clean their landfill sites and turn them into urban forests and parks.

"We can reproduce their successes to clean up Okharpauwa," Maharjan said. "We owe it to the residents there. Our rubbish has been causing them great pain so we must take the initiative in giving them relief."

Successfully processing the legacy waste at Okharpauwa, Maharjan added, will send a positive message to the people at Banchare Danda and other places and show them that the government is serious about safeguarding their health while disposing Kathmandu's refuse.

But, because the land is not under the jurisdiction of LMC, and because local levels may not be able to establish such a processing plant on their own, Lalitpur has asked the federal government to take steps to set up the waste processing establishment. 

The national government must also take the lead because the waste generated from one or two local levels may not be enough to sustain the plant, Lalitpur metropolis has stated in the letter presented to the Prime Minister.