POKHARA: An agreement has been reached to resume waste collection in Pokhara.
Garbage had been piling up in Pokahra for the past week after locals of the Lameahal area in Pokhara Metropolitan Cit (PMC)-32 returned the garbage truck, accusing the PMC Office of disregarding the agreement reached with them.
Officials of the PMC, Ward-32 Office and residents reached the agreement on Wednesday evening. As per the agreement, locals have given 15 days to the KMC to implement the previous 14-point agreement reached with them.
Ward-32 Office Chairperson Akkal Bahadur Karki said that the situation would revert to its previous state if the agreement is not implemented within 15 days. “However, if the agreement is implemented, consensus has been reached to extend the agreement by a year,” he added.
Pokhara Mayor Dhanraj Acharya, Chief Administrative Officer Shiva Raj Chaulagain, Ward-32 Chairperson Akkal Bahadur Karki, Ward-27 Chairperson Purna Kumar Gurung and representatives of political parties were present in the meeting.
PMC shifted the city’s landfill site from Bachchibaduwa in PMC-14 to Lameahal two years ago after the Pokhara International Airport started operations. Initially, the PMC had signed an agreement with the locals of the Lameahal area for six months. The agreement was renewed later on. The validity of the new agreement expired last week.
Locals say that the PMC has provided their ward office only Rs 85 million over the past two years instead of Rs 100 million as per the agreement. They have demanded the PMC release the remaining amount to the ward office at the earliest.
Pokhara produces around 150 tons of waste every day. The metropolis has assigned the task of collecting garbage from households to eight companies on a three-year contract.
The PMC is preparing to construct a waste processing center at Bharatpokhri in PMC-33 as a permanent solution to waste management issues. Although 93 ropanis of land have been acquired from 17 landowners, construction work has yet to begin.
