Pokhara Resumes Garbage Collection After Two-Week Stoppage, Foul Odor Lingers

Kaski. Garbage collection, which had been stalled for two weeks in the tourist capital Pokhara, began again on Thursday evening. The city had become foul-smelling due to the accumulation of waste along roadsides and at intersections in the market area for an extended period.

Garbage collection was halted because the temporary waste management center located in Lameahahal, Pokhara-32, became full. Although the metropolis searched for land in various locations for waste management, it was unsuccessful. Foul odors began spreading in the market as heaps of garbage accumulated not only along roadsides, at intersections, and around utility poles but also on the main roads.

Metropolis Mayor Dhanraj Acharya stated that garbage collection vehicles began operating gradually from Thursday evening. He also urged the public not to dump waste on public roads and open spaces. Although the metropolis has started collecting the garbage, it has not disclosed where it will be taken for management.

“Pokhara Metropolitan City is actively engaged in the task of waste management temporarily, short-term, and permanently, and we have made some arrangements for the immediate future. We request everyone to wait patiently until the vehicles arrive. Since the garbage has been collected for many days, there might be some extra pressure in the first couple of days, but we appeal to the city dwellers not to dump waste on public roads or in open spaces,” said Mayor Acharya.

Mayor Acharya mentioned that all accumulated garbage would be cleared by Saturday. The metropolis has also warned that monitoring teams will take action on the spot if garbage is found dumped haphazardly in public places. The problem in waste management arose because the landfill site at Lameahahal became full after a large amount of waste was generated during the 'Genji' agitation in Pokhara. In the meantime, the metropolis was unsuccessful in finding waste management locations in many places due to local opposition.

The metropolis had called an all-party and all-stakeholder meeting on Wednesday to seek cooperation in waste management. An agreement was reached in the meeting that the Pokhara Metropolitan City's garbage would be collected within 72 hours, and political parties would cooperate. The metropolis has moved forward with the process of permanent waste solution by constructing a waste processing center in Pokhara-33. However, local residents have protested. Due to local opposition, other work on the processing center construction has not moved forward. Locals have protested, alleging that the metropolis advanced the waste processing center construction process by selecting a private company without coordination and agreement.