Eagles coming to feed on the garbage collected at Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)'s transfer station in Teku have been troubling the locals, leaving their clothes hung out to dry tainted with dirt and droppings.
"Most of the time, clothes hung out to dry need rewashing. Moreover, it is not safe anymore to leave food to dry on the roof," said Raju Maharjan, a local at Teku.Likewise, the locals in the vicinity of the transfer station have been further troubled by the foul smell emanating from the garbage piling up at the transfer station for over two weeks.
But KMC office is in no hurry to remove garbage piled up at the transfer station although garbage disposal at the Sisdole Landfill in Nuwakot district resumed three weeks ago after a week-long obstruction by the locals.
Locals at the landfill site had set fire on four garbage vehicles and obstructed garbage disposal at the site for a week after a garbage truck killed a four-year-old.
KMC officials said garbage at the transfer station has not been cleared as they do not have enough vehicles to transport garbage to the landfill site. After the KMC garbage trucks were set alight, the Department of Roads (DoR) provided a dozer to KMC. "We need more dozers and excavators. We have invited tenders for procurement of necessary equipment. We need to import garbage trucks from India," said Gyanendra Karki, chief of Environment Division of KMC.
However, locals at Teku say the KMC should hire private garbage trucks to remove the garbage from the transfer station.
In lack of necessary equipment, KMC has been transporting less than half of the garbage piled at the transfer station to the landfill site. Every day, over 500 metric tons of garbage is collected at the transfer station.
Karki said KMC is planning to hire private garbage trucks from next week to normalize the situation.
Related story
Garbage at the transfer station in Teku covered
