Though the debris left by the landside was cleared in a couple of days, before the KMC trucks could not head toward Okharpauwa, landslides blocked the road again, prolonging the problem of garbage management in the capital. When the Kathmandu-Okharpauwa road section gets blocked, garbage piles up in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts as well. [break]
"As soon as we clear debris in one road section, another section gets blocked again," says Pradip Amatya, Chief of Environment and Sanitation Section at Lalitpur Sub Metropolitan City (LSMC). Since the past few years, monsoon has been known to throw Kathmandu Valley´s garbage management off kilter.
Especially, in the two months of active monsoon, the problem of garbage management reaches its height as there is no alternative place for the KMC and the LSMC to dump the garbage.
Pedestrians are compelled to walk past the garbage heaps covering their nose with mask or handkerchief.
“In such situation, we request the people to manage garbage inside their houses,” says Rabin Man Shrestha, chief of Environment Management Division at the KMC. “Some of them do not pay heed and throw garbage on the streets, which adds to our problem."
The Kathmandu-Okharpauwa road is not blacktopped and hence is vulnerable to damages by rains. As the road crisscrosses through mountains, it is at a high risk of landslides, too. Even a light rainfall can cause landslides, blocking the road for several days.
“We are well aware of the risk of landslides in monsoon season, but we do not have any alternative,” says Amatya. “As soon as the monsoon begins, we start searching for another place where we can dump the garbage temporarily."
According to Amatya, people should understand the problem and find ways to manage garbage produced at their homes themselves. It´s very hard for them to convince the public as everybody wants to live in clean and healthy place.
“We have to visit every house to convince the public, which is not possible every time,” says Amatya. “If people cooperate with us, the problem of garbage will not be a huge problem.”
In order to avoid the problem of the garbage in the Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts, the road should be maintained immediately. Because of the poor condition of the road, the landslides easily block or sweep it as a result the van carrying garbage cannot reach the Okharpauwa Sisdol landfill site.
“This is our last option in order to avoid the garbage problem. We especially choose plain areas for dumping purpose,” says Amatya. “But those places are used for parking and playing ground.”
Though the government has passed a budget of Rs 120 million in the new fiscal year (2070/2071) for building the road to Sisdol landfill site, no initiatives has been taken for its maintenance.
According to Shrestha, they had sought the budget a year ago. It will take some time to go ahead with the reconstruction of the road. The tender for road construction would be announced only after six months after all formalities are completed.
“It´s a huge amount of budget, so we need to make proper plan before investing it,” says Shrestha. “We will start the construction work soon once we are done with our paper work.”
According to Shrestha, the reconstruction of the road will begin by the end of this year. “We cannot foresee natural disasters, and during monsoon season the reconstructed road will always be in danger.”
As the garbage problem continues, the drivers of the garbage vans always fear to drive to the Sisdol landfill site. Everyday more than 300 garbage vans dump garbage in the Sisdol landfill site. One driver has to drive the garbage van at least twice a day. They have to be very careful while driving on the road.
“It´s very difficult to drive van on that road because it is in a poor condition,” says Dipendra Maharjan, one of the drivers of LSMC. “Because of the heavy load, driving on such road is fraught with risks.”
Related story
ICC T20 World Cup: England set Nepal a challenging 185-run targ...
-1779842101.webp)
