Nobody has been able to ignore the heaps of garbage piled around the capital streets. Thankfully, though, after days of disgust and inconvenience, some action is slowly being taken to manage the waste. Still one can almost bet that this won’t be the last time Kathmandu has to suffer from this problem.
So we asked people about their opinions on the matter as well as their ideas of possible solutions.
Bina Bhattarai, student
Waste management is a national issue. The government plays a big role in managing it. They should fund as well as encourage projects and ideas that can help them with this. Further, instead of just sticking with the basics methods, they should also try and come up with innovative ways. There’s a need for them to be up to date with the latest environmental developments as well. It can give rise to several ideas. Also, citizens themselves can’t ignore their responsibilities. We should understand that it comes from us and then spreads to others. Surprisingly, many tend not to realize this, but small acts of consciousness, like not throwing wrappers on the street, perhaps pocketing them till we find a dustbin, can be very helpful as well.
Ushakala Rai, politician 
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With the SAARC Summit, it wasn’t long ago that our capital was in top shape. It was green and clean. It was such a refreshing change. It showed us that if we put real effort into it, keeping our streets clean is an absolute possibility. That should be the government’s as well as the citizen’s priority. But unfortunately, cleanliness is largely neglected. People walk around polluting the city, and the government is incapable of putting in effective programs. A conscious awakening on our part and determined action would help solve the problem in a relatively short time. There should be systematic management of waste. From separating the degradable and non-degradable waste to using it to produce energy, there is plenty that needs to be done.
Girley Agarwal, CG Education 
We all have this tendency to depend on the government for everything. It’s not that the government doesn’t have its share of responsibilities and duties, but when it comes to waste management, we as citizens, too, have to ask ourselves, What can I do? We, the public, need to be mindful of what we’ve done. Cleanliness begins from our homes itself. Each individual can put in efforts to reduce waste. There are many effective ways to do so these days, and if members of our society were to imply them, we wouldn’t have to deal with such problems in the future. Even small steps, like creating your own pit at the back garden to throw away biodegradable waste, can be immensely helpful to manage waste on the national scale.
Angel Chitrakar
Senior Program Officer, ECCA
The simple fact is that waste management begins from the individual and community. However, the problem with our capital is that most aren’t aware of its importance or the processes involved. People don’t know simple concepts such as waste segregation or recycle and reuse. These days, technology has excelled so far that we can use our waste to create things like biogas. But most people in our country don’t even know about it. This is a shame because solid waste is actually not a difficult problem to manage. Authorities need to take this seriously. They also need to spread word on environment-friendly solutions such as kitchen garden, bin composts and such. An informed public can do wonders.
Tej Ratna Shakya, member,
Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association 
It’s obvious to see that all the problems we’ve had with waste management is because of lack of coordination on behalf of the government. The question is, Why they aren’t interested and eager to negotiate a solid deal? Waste management is a very serious issue, and such problem with waste management has happened far too many times. It shows the absence of farsightedness on the government’s part. This is a solvable problem. The concerned authorities need to look into it and form some kind of a system. We can’t call ourselves a metropolitan city if we can’t even handle our garbage properly. On a personal level, too, we as citizens should embrace our civic sense. Each household can help ease the problem if they want to.
Jitendra Bahety, Industrialist 
Sanitation and waste management are arguably the most important priority of a nation. Sadly, I think we can all see that these sectors aren’t given as much priority as they deserve from the government as well as the public. There’s a severe lack of infrastructures. For example: I’m confused about the proper place to dispose my shaving blades. I’m not sure where to throw them. It can hurt people or animals, so I want to be careful about it. But how can I when I don’t know how? Another example could be the ladies’ sanitary pad. Many women face this problem. They don’t have a proper place to dispose of them. So there’s this general need to educate people on matter of waste management as well. Further, Kathmanduities need to stop acting like they own the streets. You can’t be walking around littering or spitting.
