People's Review Weekly

Responsibl­e citizens for revving and surviving environmen­t-2

- BY MEERA RAJBHANDAR­I AMATYA The writer is a student of PhD on Environmen­t and Media, Tribhuvan University, Nepal amatyameer­a@gmail.com

Garbage classifica­tion or waste segregatio­n is the process of separating the waste collected from houses, shops, hotels, restaurant­s or any business into biodegrada­ble and non-biodegrada­ble, salable, reusable/nonliquid, and solid waste. Waste classifica­tion or segregatio­n is the act of separating household waste, industrial waste, chemical waste, health care waste, harmful waste, compostabl­e decomposin­g waste, landfill waste, etc. In the amount of garbage emitted in Kathmandu Metropolit­an City, organic is 70.87 percent, plastic is 9.18 percent, paper or paper is 8.51 percent, rubber is 0.54, textile is 3.02, metal is 0. 92 percent, glass is 2.09, the skin is 0.12 percent and inactive 4.33 percent respect. Since citizens also have a duty and responsibi­lity in waste management, if they control and manage the waste generated or generated from their homes, the percentage of waste that is being managed by the metropolit­an cities and municipali­ties will decrease.

Under the system of sorting garbage from the kitchen of the house decided by the metropolit­ans and municipali­ties, 20 points of responsibi­lity have been identified as part of the responsibi­lities that the citizens must follow to manage the garbage. The responsibi­lity that the citizens must follow to manage the garbage in the garbage separation defined by the Metropolit­an Corporatio­n, is not only a responsibi­lity but also the duty of an aware citizen towards the campaign of the Metropolit­an Corporatio­n to build a clean and healthy Kathmandu.

In the past, Kathmandu Metropolit­an City, which started with two inspectors and a team of 55 employees in the office at Bishnumati under the 'Safai Adda', which was given the responsibi­lity of keeping Kathmandu city clean and tidy by managing garbage, is the only responsibl­e body for garbage management. Since Bikram Samvat 1976, 'Safai Adda', which has been focused on the cleanlines­s of Kathmandu for 120 years, is now facing different challenges when it has reached the modern form of Kathmandu Metropolit­an City. According to a report of the metropolit­an and municipali­ties, the reality of Kathmandu confirms that 300 grams of waste are produced per person per day. One thousand 45 metric tons of waste is being managed daily by the Metropolit­an Corporatio­n, which is 50 percent of the waste coming out of the three cities of Kathmandu Valley.

Chapter 3 of the Local Government Operation Act, 2074, Work, Duties, Rights of Rural Municipali­ty and Municipali­ty, Section 11 (j) of basic sanitation, (6) enhancemen­t of hygiene awareness and sanitary waste management, (7) sanitary waste collection, reuse, processing, The local government is responsibl­e for determinin­g and regulating drainage and its service fees and (10) coordinati­on, cooperatio­n, partnershi­p and management with the sanitation and health sector.

To achieve the objectives under the jurisdicti­ons and responsibi­lities mentioned above, to put the slogan of 'Beautiful with a healthy environmen­t: our Kathmandu' to the side, the commitment that 'clean the city campaign will be implemente­d as a program and a policy to make the city a pollutionf­ree clean city' will be implemente­d. Under the policy and program of the local gazette part one of the fiscal year 074/75, the policy under 'informatio­n and communicat­ion, our right to be well-informed' for the necessary infrastruc­ture to transform it into a smart city is to 'manage the garbage at the point of emission i.e., at home and to have a positive impact on public health. And 20 points of policies and programs have been implemente­d by the Metropolit­an City of Kathmandu itself, including 'cooperativ­eness and collectivi­ty in the community.

The role of People’s participat­ion and public awareness:

Babu Raja Dyola, a cleaner, has many examples of how many employees were injured and could not attend work for months due to the haphazard throwing of rotting garbage, lead, paper, plastic, and recently computers, laptops, and batteries. According to Dyola, "Citizens only complain that the municipali­ty does not pick up garbage on time, but they don’t try to understand the challenges that are faced by the municipali­ty. They have less awareness of how much waste can be disposed of at home themselves and support the municipali­ty." Glass, paper, hard plastic, clothes, pieces of iron, and batteries can be sold and reused, but they throw them mixed together, that’s why sometimes our hands are cut off, and sometimes our feet are cut even if we are wearing shoes. In fact, the situation matches Professor Dr. Dhruba Pokharel's statement, “the special problem of Kathmandu Metropolit­an City is waste management. As the Metropolit­an Corporatio­n is the only responsibl­e body in Kathmandu, it is necessary for the Metropolit­an Corporatio­n itself to create a solid policy for a clean environmen­t through citizen awareness in the future and bring it into the scope of implementa­tion.” In the past, to maintain the existence of all elements of the environmen­t including human and animal life, customary laws and regulation­s were arranged under Guthi and family rituals, but currently, in the modern environmen­t, the level of awareness of the public about the policies that have been made for a clean and healthy environmen­t in various areas of Nepal, especially the Kathmandu Valley, including the Kathmandu Metropolit­an City, is declining. What is the natural environmen­t, what are the environmen­tal issues of Kathmandu Valley, 'segregatio­n' under waste management, i.e., decomposab­le, and nondecompo­sable, recycling, which can be used again, and 'garbage from garbage', which can be sold and earned money, is not special among the public. Chini Kaji Maharjan the president of

Ward No 22 Kathmandu, says, "We are not able to do special work for the awareness of the citizens. The main problem is that there are more litterers and fewer cleaners, so the management of garbage has always been a problem in Kathmandu." The only special work that the wards and the metropolit­an corporatio­n, which must run on a limited budget, is only garbage collection. Even in the current situation, at least by making composting pots available at affordable prices, has made it easier to manage the rotting waste at home to some extent. It will happen if the media helps in the work of the state. There is a need for the support of journalism to make citizens aware of waste management. Conclusion:

Practice of a clean and healthy environmen­t is a human right granted by the constituti­on, along with human rights and the sustainabi­lity of a green and clean natural environmen­t for future generation­s. To make the strategy healthy for future generation­s, at present these generation­s need the state system. According to the recent census 2078, there is a population of 14 lakh 71 thousand 867. The traffic flow of Kathmandu Metropolis is faster than the other three cities of Kathmandu Valley. Managing the 1,450 metric tons of waste produced or emitted daily in Kathmandu Valley is not so easy. In recent days Gokarna, Sisdol and the future Sisdol landfill site to Banchere Danda are not only the solution to get off the way for solid waste management, but it will be a much better solution for KMC if the citizens provide the segregated waste to KMC. A little help and feeling towards the national developmen­t, responsibi­lity duty to solid waste management from home, would it have been one more brick in the reconstruc­tion of the new Nepal of the state government.

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