The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and locals of Sisdole-Banchare Danda have reached an 18-point agreement Thursday night allowing vehicles carrying waste materials at the dumping site only during the night.
The earlier agreement reached following dialogue at the Urban Development Ministry Monday night could not be implemented as the protesting locals were not represented in that deal. The latest agreement was signed in presence of the protesting locals who had been obstructing dumping of waste materials even after the agreement on Monday night.
Mayor of Kathmandu Balendra Shah, Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol and elected representatives from the local bodies where the dumping site lies have signed the latest agreement and locals will not obstruct the vehicles carrying waste materials from Friday onward.
Waste materials will be dumped only during the night as per the new agreement and the KMC will complete necessary arrangements including light and road maintenance within three months for dumping the garbage only during the night.
The KMC will make arrangements to control stench coming from the garbage within a month, stop leachate from waste materials reaching the river and seepage of liquid from the vehicles carrying waste materials down on the road.
The KMC will also allocate budget for development of the affected area annually as per the agreement.
The deal signed earlier in the week had agreed to bury the garbage under a 15-centimeter layer of soil after dumping garbage at the site every day to stop stench. Chemical or biological treatment measures were also be adopted on recommendation of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) to stop the malodor.
The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) was to issue a notice to keep biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste separately at every household. The KMC was to look for a place to collect the biodegradable waste and convert that into compost during the intervening period.
The agreement had also committed to start process to shut down the Sisdole landfill site where garbage has been dumped for 17 years and convert it into a green zone, and start land acquisition process after determining the affected area at Banchare Danda following an environmental impact assessment within six months.
These provisions of the last agreement have also been included in the latest one.
