Now that the earthquakes have left yet another assembly of buildings old and new in shambles, a question arises: Do we want dumping site in the middle of our houses? While places change with time, many fear the history of dumping sites will repeat because of the debris generated by recent earthquakes. As people are left with no choice but to demolish the quake-damaged structures, there is no doubt the debris would inundate the Valley's already weak waste management system.Surprisingly, however, in February this year, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) in association with International Organization for Migration (IOM) had come up with a strategic plan to manage the debris post-earthquake. The plan lists out nine places in Kathmandu and Lalitpur, mainly different locations along the Bagmati river bank and ring road, for debris collection. But according to Prajwal Sharma, an official at the IOM, before the plan could be approved, the earthquake came.
In Basantpur, where the old temples succumbed, locals are doing their best to live alongside the remains of historical structures. While the useable bricks and wooden carvings have been separated from the debris, locals and the vendors, who earned their living by putting up shops near the temples and dabalis still have a hard time moving around the area. So in some places, they have taken it upon themselves to take care of the debris.
Rabindra Maharjan, one of the locals of Basantpur, says, "Officials from the metropolitan office have done the preliminary cleaning, but the dirt and the debris still remains. So since a past few days, the shopkeepers along with the vendors have started cleaning the area themselves. The officials have agreed to collect waste from here. As far as I know, it will be taken to some dumping site."
Saubhagya Pradhananga, chief archaeological officer at Department of Archaeology (DoA) says sorting out debris from the collapsed structures at heritage sites are challenging, because of their historical importance. "We have taken special care while separating the reusable materials and made sure that we haven't missed anything out. Materials from each temple have been kept separately so that it will be easier when we reconstruct them," she says.
While a place may be cleaned and waste taken away from there, the authorities have still not been able to properly plan debris management. An ideal solution would be to sort out the concrete, bricks, aluminum, CGI sheets, etc. and recycle them. But that seems very difficult right now. The debris management strategic plan would have offered some respite and would have given a lot of options. But Sharma says, "It still isn't very prescriptive."
IOM, however, has been focusing on Sindhupalchowk to help the local administration demolish damaged structures and remove the debris. "Under the debris management drive, we have managed to segregate the concrete structure, CGI roof, furniture, steel and timber, piled up the non-reusable ones, and stored the recovered materials in small shades," he says.
Gopi Krishna Khanal, Joint Secretary of MoFALD says that lack of equipment to demolish structures and transfer the debris from one place to another has been one of the major problems. "A problem even bigger than debris management is demolition of damaged houses. We have asked the people to demolish their houses. And whether they're schools, houses, or government buildings, they will have to do it on their own. We are lending our hand only to those people who are not economically capable of doing it themselves," he says.
Perhaps, old ponds will not have to lose their glory for the sake of the people this time around. Things that may seem useless may have some value, too; they definitely are our property. Though concerned authorities have certainly been doing their best, without a proper plan in place we might as well have to deal with it in long run.
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