Itahari — Even as the landfill site of Dhankuta district is turned into beautiful touristic site, Itahari, the self-declared ‘green city’ of the same province, has been dumping its waste in the jungle.
The forest locally known as Charkose Jhadi, home to numerous flora and fauna, is being used as dumping site.
Felled trees laying scattered and ash residue of waste dumped in the forest are seen everywhere. No one can stand more than a minute at the dumping area of the jungle because of the foul odor emanating from the decayed organic wastes collected from city households every day. The forest is clouded almost every day due to the smokes from burning waste.
Green city dumps 33–ton waste everyday
Hasposa Community Forest Area of Charkose Jhadi receives 33 tons of city waste every day. The waste volume is increasing every month with the increase of settlement in Itahari. A recent study by Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City showed that the eastern city produces 33 tons of garbage in a day.
Of the wastes, 65 percent is biodegradable and 35 percent is non-biodegradable, including plastics. Puspa Narayan Chaudhary, chief of the environment department at the sub-metropolitan city, attributes the growing population for the increasing volume of waste.
Hospital wastes dumped without treatment
Various laws and regulations on waste management of Nepal clearly state that hospital and medical wastes must be dumped after proper treatment. Unfortunately, the health institutions of Itahari are not abiding by these regulations. The wastes produced by 10 medical centers, 2 private hospitals and 46 pharmacies are being dumped in the jungle without treatment.
Growing corruption in waste management
Itahari sub-metropolitan city has signed a contract with a private company named ‘Enviro Care Concern’ for the city’s waste management. The company was awarded the contract according to which it will be paid Rs 590,000 monthly by local government. The company charges money for households, hotels, institutions and industries of the city starting from Rs 80 to Rs 8000 per month for collecting the wastes.
According to company insiders, the company makes around 5 million rupees every month but just dumps the waste in jungle without complying with the procedure. “Workers are not provided gloves and other accessories to handle the wastes,” said Sunil Karki, a local youth critical of Enviro Care Concern. “The workers are not provided with proper allowance for periodic medical check-ups. It is unprofessional and is like a crime.”
Local government’s negligence
Itahari is a city with 33,000 households and 140,517 people according to latest government census of 2011. The population has increased since then. However, the local government has not done anything to cope with the changing situation.
The leadership of the city officially known as ‘green city’ seems least bothered about killing the forest greenery by city waste. It has done nothing visible to stop the dumping of medical and clinical waste in forest area without treatment.
Neither the local government is monitoring the rampant malpractice in dumping medical and clinical waste nor the hospitals, medical centers, and pharmacies are abiding by the laws and regulations on waste management.
Itahari Mayor Dwariklal Chaudhary says, “Our waste management will be in line with regulations after the completion of the ongoing construction of waste treatment plant and modern landfill site in Itahari-13 of Khanar.”
