Kathmandu Valley Municipalities to Share Financial and Management Burden of Waste Disposal

Kathmandu. The entire financial and managerial burden of waste management in the Kathmandu Valley will now be borne by all municipalities. The 13th meeting of the Kathmandu Valley Mayors' Forum decided that all municipalities will work together for financial and managerial partnership in waste management.

According to the decision of the meeting, the remaining 17 municipalities in the valley will provide financial and managerial partnership to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), which has been solely carrying the burden of waste management in the valley. Until now, KMC was bearing the entire cost of waste management taking place at the Bancharedanda landfill site. Ending this practice, the meeting decided that each respective municipality will now bear the cost based on the amount of waste generated.

Sunita Dangol, Acting Chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, stated that solid waste is a 'trans-boundary' problem. Clarifying the same issue, Chiribabu Maharjan, Chairman of the Mayors' Forum and Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, said that since waste management is not solely the responsibility of KMC, it was decided that everyone would cooperate.

The meeting also decided that the Mayors' Forum will fully support and adopt any option put forward by the Federal Government regarding studies conducted for solid waste management.

Cycle Lane from Shivapuri to Godavari

The meeting decided to construct a cycle lane connecting inter-municipalities to make the valley a smart city. Under this, a 'route' has been determined from Shivapuri Hill in Budhanilkantha, passing through Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan Cities, up to the Botanical Garden in Godavari.

After the meeting, Forum Chairman Maharjan informed that it was decided to prepare a master plan to advance this as a 'show-case project'. The Forum plans to request the government to immediately formulate a law regarding cycle lanes and plans to expand this project to other municipalities if successful.

Metro Rail and Transportation Improvement

The Mayors' Forum meeting also concluded that 'mass transportation' is essential to solve the valley's traffic jam and connectivity problems. The meeting decided to cooperate with the Federal Government on the construction of the Metro Rail. Acting Chief Dangol informed that the Forum will assist in implementing the DPRs related to the Metro Rail prepared by the government or donor agencies.

Acting Chief Dangol further informed that the Forum decided to conduct a separate study and submit a report to the government on what arrangements should be made to solve the immediate transportation problems, while developing a transportation system suitable for the valley's soil and historical heritage, as the Metro Rail will take a long time to build. During the meeting, mayors and deputy mayors of the valley expressed the view that cooperation and coordination with the Federal Government have opened up avenues regarding common problems such as solid waste, drinking water, air pollution, and climate change.