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Garbage disposal still a challenge: Officials

Posted by Unknown on Friday, September 26, 2014 | 0 comments

KATHMANDU, SEP 26 - Solid waste management inside the Kathmandu City is still a major challenge for the authorities concerned despite harsh legal measures to ensure effective waste management both at household and commercial levels.
The government in 2011 enacted the Solid Waste Management Act promoting reduce, reuse and recycle (3R) principles. The Act states that those found not segregating garbage at source level will be charged double or triple the actual amount paid for the service and even jailed and fined as much as Rs 100,000. Sumitra Amatya, chief at the Solid Waste Management and Technical Support Centre, however, said that despite such provisions, the garbage management could not be effective due to the failure of the concerned municipalities. She said people living in the Valley are still reluctant to adopt measures that help decrease solid waste generation. It is estimated that the Valley generates waste amounting to around 500-550 metric tonnes every day.
Amatya said the idea of segregating waste and transporting only those that cannot be used again or degraded was incorporated right from the landfill site project began around six years ago. “But it never happened as Valley denizens never took part in waste segregation at source,” she said. Rabin Man Shrestha, chief at the KMC’s Environment Division, said that the municipality is trying to implement the Act and has taken action against the guilty.
Besides problems in the source level, the mismanagement in the landfill site in Sisdole has also led to frequent protests of local communities. On Wednesday, local residents in Sisdole threatened to halt the garbage disposal saying that the authorities failed to address their concerns.