When will Dhangadhi Sub Metropolitan city have its dump yard?

Birendra Bhatta, Dhangadhi: A budget of Rs. 300 million was allocated for land purchase and 600 million for construction of a dump yard. But the sub-metropolian has not been able to find land for setting up a waste management center since two and a half years.

The work has become uncertain as to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and QR have not been approved as the process for construction of the center within the National Forest of Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan Ward No. 7. The process has not progressed even though it has been agreed to provide land as per the requirement for the construction of the dump yard within the National Forest of Patela.

Ward Chairman of Ward No. 7 Sitaram Rana claimed that an agreement has been reached to provide land. "Even after the DPR for the construction of the waste management center has been done, there is still confusion as the rest of the process cannot proceed," he said. However, the 900 million allocated for the construction of the center is in a state of disrepair due to incomplete environmental impact assessment through DPR.

Pravin Shah, head of the Regional Urban Development Project Implementation Unit, Dhangadhi, said that the Ministry of Forests had recently received approval for the EIA and QR but had not received the letter officially. "The procurement process could not be carried out as EIA and QR were not approved for a long time. At present, we have only a budget of Rs 6-7 crore," said project chief Shah.

The regional urban development project, which has been implemented with the loan investment of the Asian Development Bank, had distributed Rs 450 million for wastewater treatment along with the waste management center. Two projects worth Rs 1.35 billion, including Rs 90 million for the waste management center and Rs 450 million for the wastewater treatment center, are in crisis. The city dwellers are complaining that the plan is in crisis due to the weakness of the people's representatives as they have not been able to manage the land till the second half of their tenure.