Kathmandu: At a time when ethnic groups are pressing hard for individual states to be named after them, local people of Sisdole have obstructed garbage disposal to say no to ethnicity-based federalism. On Monday, local people of Tinpiple at Jitpur VDC, on the border between Nuwakot and Kathmandu, brought garbage disposal at the Sisdole landfill site to a standstill in what they called a symbolic protest against identity-based federalism.

Tinpiple folk said they would not allow the waste generated in the proposed Newa state if the country is federated along the ethnic lines. “Our protest is a symbolic one to convey a message to all that federalism on ethnic lines cannot work in our country,” said a local of Jitpur VDC, Bipin Aryal. “We Nepalis are dependent on each other.” The locals blocked 25 vehicles of KMC and a private agency for four hours on the way to Sisdole early in the morning. The Metropolitan Police from Balaju and Tinpiple had reached the site to avoid any untoward situation.
According to DSP Krishna Bahadur Kalli Magar, in-charge of Balaju Police, 10 security personnel were deployed in Tinpiple, 9 km away from Balaju, from 7 am and nine other policemen reached the site immediately after the obstruction. “The locals have said waste disposal will be prohibited in Sisdole. Police are on alert to react as needed,” said DSP Magar.
Rabin Man Shrestha, chief of KMC’s Environment Division, said all the vehicles loaded with waste returned safely and garbage would be carried to Sisdole as usual on Tuesday morning too. Some 475 tonnes of waste is generated in the Kathmandu Valley everyday, out of which KMC lifts around 200 tonnes. The Valley saw piles of garbage more than 70 times due to several obstructions in the landfill sites. The government had introduced the Solid Waste management Act-2011 in May last year to penalise the groups or individuals obstructing waste disposal.

Source: The Kathmandu Post, May 22, 2012