By Kshitiz Siwakoti, Kathmandu, Apr. 8: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has prepared to operate the Banchare Danda landfill site from 15^th May this year.

Since the Sisdol landfill site has been exhausted from the growing appetite for Kathmandu’s waste, the new landfill site in Banchare Danda will replace its predecessor. 

Sarita Rai, the Environment Administration Division Chief of KMC told The TRN Online that the site in Banchare Danda will be ready for use by 15 June.

“We will start dumping on the site from 15 May,” Rai said, "The new landfill site will be able to help the waste problem in Kathmandu and it will also relieve the Sisdol landfill site as it has already been exhausted."

Situated between the border of Nuwakot and Dhading, the dumping site in Banchare Danda will be of more than 1792 Ropanis. The spokesperson at the KMC Ishwor Man Dangol has said that the landfill site will be able to contain Kathmandu’s waste for 50 years. 

The Environment department chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Hari Kumar Shrestha has said that 80 to 90 Ropanis of the landfill will be designated as a sanitary landfill. “Sanitary landfill means that the toxic leachate which percolates from the waste will be treated before they are discharged into the rivers,” Shrestha told The TRN online.

Shrestha further said that landfill has been constructed with a focus on preserving the environment. “We have made a drainage system around the site so that rainwater is drained out of the waste before they turn into toxic leachate that would pollute both the underground water and also the rivers,” Shrestha said. 

4270 workers are engaged in waste management in Kathmandu out of which 950 work under the KMC alone. KMC has 350 vehicles that are solely dedicated to carrying waste. 

It cost the government Rs 1.9 Billion to construct the landfill in Banchare Danda. 

Chief Hari Shrestha has urged the people of Kathmandu to not throw away organic waste as it can be reused as compost for plants. He has also asked the people not to throw away glasses and plastics as they can be recycled. “If people adhere to these requests then the site in Banchare Danda can be used for more than 50 years,” Shrestha said.