Kanchanpur: The garbage collection and disposal in Shuklaphanta municipality-11 in Kanchanpur district has been disrupted for three days now after the Shree Krishna Community Forest User Group padlocked the Waste Management Centre’s office. The Group, demanding an implementation of the 11-point agreement, locked up the office of the Centre halting the garbage collection process.
According to National News Agency Nepal, this action has resulted in the accumulation of waste in areas such as Jhalari, forest users committee, and market areas at Kaluwapur. The Municipality has been temporarily using the land of the community forest for trash dumping, as the Centre is not yet fully operational.
The Waste Management Centre was constructed at a cost exceeding Rs 300 million, funded through a concessional loan from the Asian Development Bank. It is designed to process up to 6 tonnes of waste daily for the next 20 years. The 11-point agreement, which was established between the Municipality and the Users’ Group during the Centre’s construction, is reportedly not being implemented, according to the User Group’s Chairperson, Ambar Bahadur Ayre.
Key points of the agreement included assurances that waste from other areas would not be dumped at the site, plans for fencing, providing LPG gas cylinders to Group members, constructing embankments at Banhara and Sanbora rivers, and offering jobs to local residents. Additional commitments involved road improvements, electricity installation in affected human settlements, organizing Aryaghat areas, arranging dustbins, implementing an insurance scheme, providing free medical treatment to affected individuals, and returning the land after use.
Ayre expressed dissatisfaction over the Municipality’s failure to act on the agreement, mentioning that three years have passed without progress. Former secretary of the Group, Dil Bahadur Saud, accused the Municipality authorities of ignoring the issue and failing to engage in discussions to resolve it. Saud warned of further protests if their demands are not met.