September 9: The first cell of the landfill site under construction at Bancharedanda of Nuwakot is being prepared for long-term waste management. The Ministry of Urban Development has stated that the construction of the first cell of the landfill site has been completed. The ministry informed the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction has directed the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to manage the waste.

Spokesperson for the ministry, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, said that the construction of the cell has been completed and that he is not responsible for other works. As the ministry has instructed the department to take immediate decision on waste management in coordination with Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, it is said that garbage of 18 local levels of Kathmandu Valley will reach Bancharedanda in a few days. The ministry has stated that the construction of the second cell and other works are still underway.

A contract agreement was signed with Lumbini Koshi and Neupane JV for the construction of a long-term sanitary landfill site in Bancharedanda on May 5, 2019. Although the entire construction work was supposed to be completed last April as per the agreement, the work still has not been completed yet.

 Meanwhile, Hari Kumar Shrestha, the head of the Environment Department of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, says that he has not received any official information from the ministry or the department about waste management in Bancharedanda.

Fearing that the locals might obstruct the movement of vehicles carrying garbage to Bancharedanda, Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that long-term waste management should be done only after a proper discussion with the locals and related bodies. After 18 days, garbage of 18 local levels of Kathmandu Valley has started to be collected since Wednesday. However, garbage of all places has still not been managed properly.

Garbage collection of local levels of Kathmandu Valley had been halted since August 16, 2021. This was the consequence of locals of Sisdol protesting against the garbage disposal in addition tp the problems caused by continuous rainfall. According to Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, all the garbage could not be managed at once as it has been collected for a long time.

The landfill site in Sisdol was constructed in 2062 BS for waste management for only two  years. Garbage is being managed in the site by burying it with soil and extending the site from time to time.

Every day, 1,200 metric tons of garbage is dumped in the Sisdol from the Kathmandu Valley. Out of this, 500 metric tons of garbage is collected from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City itself. At least 200 vehicles of garbage are taken to Sisdol on a daily basis. About 75 percent of the daily waste from the Kathmandu Valley is managed in Sisdol.