SURKHET – While heading to Birendranagar, one can see garbage piles at Bheri community forest that is on the way to the city. The disposal of solid waste generated in Birendranagar, the provincial Capital of Karnali, has polluted the environment. The entire waste produced in Birendranagar was dumped at Bheri community forest, nearby Dhuliyabeat, for many years. Since last year, Tarebhir landfill site has been brought into operation for managing the garbage of Birendranagar. The municipality stopped disposing the garbage in the community forest after the landfill came into operation in September-October, 2017. But the garbage has not stopped piling in the forest.
“We haven’t been able to find who dumps the garbage in the community forest,” said Tanka Acharya, sanitation assistant at Birendranagar Municipality, “The waste is dumped at the forest during night time and the garbage pile has been emanating foul smell.”
The municipality had already started collecting the garbage at each and every ward before the election of people’s representatives at local level. “But now the ward offices have been managing the garbage at their respective area by collecting tax for the service,” said Acharya.
After the contract for managing garbage in Birendranagar signed with ‘The green city sanitation’ ended in mid-June 2018, the ward 6 has extended the contract for two more months.
Fresh tenders have been invited for garbage collection, Ward Chairman Moti Kandel informed. According to Kandel, the contracted organization will start collecting garbage from ward 6 starting September 17. Of the 16 wards in Birendra Municipality, ward 6 is the biggest waste producer.
Difficulty in transport garbage
It has been difficult to transport garbage in Tarebhir landfill site, where the municipality has been dumping the garbage for the past one year, after the flood ruined the gravel road leading to the site.
The failure to manage the garbage produced daily has added to the woes of municipality. There are many challenges for the municipality to manage the garbage as most of the roads leading to Tarebhir are dirt and landslides occur frequently at the roads after a small rainfall.
There has been problem due to unmanaged road, though the municipality has operated a temporary the landfill site.
Manager of ‘The Green City’ said they face a crisis garbage management after the onset of monsoon season. The urban area of Birendranagar Municipality has been producing around 5 tons of garbage daily.
Community forest is the alternative
The municipality has been preparing to use Bheri community forest as the alternative place to dump the garbage because of the problems in transporting the garbage to the landfill site during rainy season.
According to sanitation assistant Acharya, the Birendranagar Municipaity has forged a deal with the community forest for disposing the garbage until the Tarebhir landfill site becomes read.
Concerned stakeholders are worried and wondering as to what will happen to the community forest that has become stinking because of the waste dumped secretly at night by the people. The haphazard disposal of waste and littering have made the surrounding area of the community forest stinking. People have to cover their nose to avoid the foul smell when the bus they are riding moves past the forest.
When will a permanent landfill site be built?
Soon after their election, the representatives of the municipality had shown keen interests to manage the garbage of Birendranagar. The representatives, who were left bewildered earlier due to lack of budget and place, have now been preparing to use Tarebhir as scientific landfill site.
A landfill site has been built on the one hand and preparations are being made to build a scientific landfill site. However, the locals seem to be in a dilemma as they are still using the community forest to dump the garbage.
The capital of Karnali Province, Birendranagar Municipality, has been looking for a permanent landfill site as the growing population in the town has added to its already-troubled garbage management problem.
The blueprint for the proposed permanent landfill site in Tarebhir has already been prepared, said sanitation assistant Acharya. “We are in the process of building a local landfill site. The land acquisition will be settled very soon,” he said.
He further informed that the municipality has allocated Rs 5,000,000 in the current fiscal year for building a permanent landfill site in Tarebhir. The budget will be allocated for the project every year as it has been designated as major project.
The municipality has been operating a multi-year project for the landfill site after conducting Environment Impact Assessment.
