Even as heaps of garbage remain uncollected in the thoroughfares of Kathmandu and Lalitpur city, the chief executive of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has promised that the streets will be clean during the Dashain festival.

“We still have space in Balkhu area to dump garbage for a few more days. So, I can say that during the festival time, the streets will be cleaned,” said Dinesh Thapaliya, the chief executive of KMC.

For the past few days, the streets of the two cities in the capital valley had witnessed heaps of uncollected garbage after the Balkhu disposal area began to run out of space. Even though the Okharpauwa-Sisdole landfill site – which is located in neighboring Nuwakot district on the northwest of the capital – is the primary dumping site of the metropolitan cities, the locals have refused to let the KMC dump garbage there since July 30. This forced the KMC to go for temporary alternative in Balkhu.

Thapaliya complains the lack of political support in the management of garbage.

“I had heard that politics is a dirty game. But after becoming the chief executive of KMC, I have come to know that politics is a game that is played on dirt/garbage,” rued Dinesh Thapaliya, the chief of the country’s capital city. According to him, the KMC alone is neither equipped nor capable to manage garbage.

According to him, the local residents of the Sisdole – under incitement of some political parties – have put up ‘hefty and even impossible’ demands. “They have asked us to build everything from schools to hospitals in the area, which is beyond our means,” said Thapaliya.

One of the major demands of the local people is the replacement of the existing Sisdole Landfill Site Local Coordination Committee – which was formed in 2005. They say that since the committee was formed during royal regime, it should be dissolved. “But I fail to understand how the KMC can go all the way there and form committees for the local people,” Thapaliya said.

Other demands of the Sisdole residents include providing jobs to local youths; opening school and hospital in the area; classification of the area on the basis of impact of garbage; clarification of roles and duties of the committee; and transparency in the budget flow in the area.

The Ministry of Local Development has already formed a high-level team headed by a joint secretary to address these demands. However, in the meantime, the locals have refused to let KMC trucks dump garbage there.

The KMC currently manages 240 tons of waste produced by city residents and 260 tons of waste produced by residents of adjoining VDCs. The KMC’s annual resource is around Rs 600 to 650 million – of which around Rs 230 million is spent on waste management alone.