KATHMANDU: Cracks in waste disposal management have begun to show in the Kathmandu Valley with the onset of monsoon in Nepal. Incessant rains in the valley have barred the trucks laden with wastes from reaching Sisadol – a landfill site as a result of which heaps of wastes are lying unattended and undisposed in different colonies of human settlement across the city of Kathmandu and its adjacent areas such as Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) undergoes this problem every year during monsoon season. The problem of waste disposal has continued to remain unmanaged here in the valley because KMC and other stakeholders have not paid attention in the regard. Even roads leading to the landfill site Sisdol gets slippery in rains causing trucks carrying wastes to slide through the sides of the road leaving the wastes on the way only. The entire way leading up to Sisdol gets choked up full of stink and unbearable foul smell. It disturbs the whole cycle of picking up the wastes and disposing them off. Thus, wastes remain unattended on the streets and in human colonies of Kathmandu valley. It demands long term solution from those who are in the helm of affairs.

Mounds of wastes

KMC has been dumping the city wastes in Sisdol- landfill site located in Okharpauva, Nuwakot since 2062 BS. It was said that this site had the capacity of absorbing the mass of wastes measuring to 6.5 lakh metric tons. Sisdol- the landfill earlier set for 3 years for temporarily dumping the collected wastes from in and around Kathmandu valley has gone into 14 continuous years of its use. It seems the concerned authority has slept over overlooking the urgency required to look for alternative landfill sites to Sisdol.

Kathmandu valley generates 1000 to 1100 metric tons of wastes every day. Sisdol alone absorbs 75 percent of these wastes in its landfill site and no more space is left there to accept more wastes. But, KMC has failed to find out another landfill site till today putting Sisdol to excessive ‘overuse’ with all kinds of the potential hazard to its surrounding environment. At the present moment, KMC looks after the waste disposal of 2 municipal corporations and 15 municipalities.

3 more months to Sisdol

Despite being overused and overdosed, the land-fill site Sisdol is still to take in tons of wastes generated by KMC for another 3 months. Ishwarman Dangol, the spokesperson of KMC, told the Khabarhub that they were compelled to use Sisdol for dumping city wastes knowing very well that it is no more viable and prudent to do it. There is no other place to dump the collected wastes at least till the month of Bhadra, adds Dangol.

Banchare Danda is not ready yet

Banchare Danda located in Nuwakot between Kakani and Dhading was chosen by the government to build up a landfill site of fairly a large capacity in 2051 BS. It is more than 25 years, Banchare Danda is still waiting for even for basic infrastructure to come up. This is why Sisdol has borne the brunt of over-exploitation. Hari Kumar Shrestha, chief of the Department of Environment at KMC, assures, “Work on building infrastructure will begin from Baisakh 12. Foundation to work has already been laid two months before. Rains have caused the problem to the ongoing work. Therefore, it will take more times to complete.”

Problems of motorways roads

The distance between Kathmandu and Sisdol is 26 kilometers on motorways. Banchare Danda is further ahead by 2 kilometers from Sisdol, so in total it’s 28 kilometers of motorways between Kathmandu and Banchare Danda. Hari Kumar Shrestha says that rains damage the motorways and it is almost impossible for trucks carrying the sites from Kathmandu to reach the landfill site. Road construction department is not paying any heed to our repeated requests to build up the motorways which do not get spoiled by rains, expresses Shrestha. These waste laden trucks reach Sisdole from Kathmandu via Balaju taking the route of Tinpiple-Murkhu. It is motorways spoilt by rains not allowing any disposal of wastes regularly nowadays.