On Monday, after a tripartite agreement between representatives from Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Banchare Danda village, there was hope that the capital city's waste management problem was getting solved, at least temporarily. Excited about the new development, Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah took to social media to lay out the plans for instituting segregation practices at the source for effective management of household waste. But locals of Banchare Danda on Tuesday disallowed the city’s trucks from reaching the dumping site, a reminder that those who have had to endure Kathmandu’s filth for years are not going to be assuaged so easily.

Tuesday saw a confrontation between locals and the city, with the police using force to dump the garbage as the villagers obstructed the dumping. An escalation of the conflict between the two sides is only going to worsen Kathmandu’s already fragile relationship with Banchare Danda. But confrontation is never the best way to solve a longstanding problem. A permanent solution to the problem is going to come only if both sides engage in a compassionate negotiation. This does not in any way mean that locals should relent and give up their demands, which do not seem unreasonable. In any case, they have been handed out promises to fulfil their demands in the past, only to be cheated time and again.

The Kathmandu waste management problem is a legacy left by those who were in power earlier and did nothing close to finding a long-term solution. Just a few days into their tenure, Kathmandu's local representatives have taken a multi-pronged approach to dealing with the crisis, including sending a team of experts to assess the damage caused by the filth as well as a team with chemical spray to subdue the stench. The new mayor even announced on social media that waste segregation would begin at the source beginning July 17, even cautioning Kathmandu residents that if they bring unsegregated waste, it will be returned to them. After remaining a metropolitan city for decades, it is unfathomable how Kathmandu continues to collect all kinds of waste together and throw them on the streets. Even as the leadership continues to negotiate with Banchare Danda locals towards a peaceful and permanent solution to the waste management problem, it is high time the city dwellers begin segregating waste at the source itself even before the deadline set by the mayor.

The filth on the streets of Kathmandu cannot remain unattended for ever, as it is a violence on the sensorium apart from a source of ailments. But what is at stake is the sensorium of the residents of Sisdole and Banchare Danda, who have been duped several times over the years. They have suffered enough of the filth and the disease emanating from the metropolitan city that cares little about their health and wellbeing. They need environmental justice that arises from a judicious management of the trash at the source.