KANCHANPUR: Garbage collection and disposal in Shuklaphanta Municipality-11 of Kanchanpur has been stalled for the past three days after the Shree Krishna Community Forest User Group padlocked the office of the Waste Management Centre.
The group, accusing the municipality of failing to implement an 11-point agreement signed during the centre’s construction, shut down operations, leading to heaps of uncollected waste piling up in Jhalari, Kaluwapur and nearby market areas.
Built at a cost of over Rs 300 million with concessional financing from the Asian Development Bank, the centre has the capacity to process six tonnes of garbage daily for up to 20 years. However, due to the ongoing dispute, the municipality has been dumping waste on community forest land on a temporary basis.
User Group Chairperson Ambar Bahadur Ayre said the municipality has ignored commitments such as banning garbage from outside areas, fencing the site, providing LPG cylinders to members, constructing river embankments, offering jobs to locals, and upgrading roads, electricity and health facilities for affected communities. The deal also included insurance, free medical treatment, dustbins, and a promise to return the land once operations end.
“Three years have passed, yet nothing has been implemented,” Ayre lamented. Former secretary Dil Bahadur Saud accused municipal authorities of “turning a blind eye” and refusing to engage in talks.
The group has warned of further protests if their demands continue to be ignored.
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