Krishna Bohara, a resident in Khalanga, has been struggling to manage his household garbage for the past one month. This is because garbage collection has come to a halt in his area; sacks full of all kinds of waste are stacked outside his house. “It stinks horribly, but we don’t have enough space to dump the waste,” he said.

Waste management in Khalanga, the district headquarters of Jumla, is becoming a serious problem due to a lack of a proper landfill site. Because of rapid urbanisation and population growth, locals of Chandan Nath Municipality are finding it increasingly challenging to dump waste; piles of garbage have popped up almost everywhere in the bazaar area, posing serious public health risks and deteriorating the bazaar’s image.

Previously, to tackle the problem, the municipality office had constructed a temporary dumping site in a land plot of a local man in Richegaudi (Ward No. 5). Laxmi Chandra Neupane, chief at the Sanitation Management Section of the municipality, said that the municipality had made an agreement to dump garbage in the area for five months. “But now, it’s been two years. The entire area has been filled with garbage, and there’s no space to dump more waste,” he said.

As a permanent solution for the area’s waste management problem, the municipality office had constructed a permanent dumping site at Dunadunai in Ward No.2; however, locals are obstructing vehicles from dumping garbage in the area, according to Kantika Sejuwal, mayor of the municipality. She said, “Locals are demanding to construct a proper road up to the dumping site area. The construction of the road is underway.” However, locals said they will only allow vehicles to ply the road after the local unit completes the construction work of the road.

Municipality officials said that they are searching for another temporary landfill site. The municipality has also prepared a detailed project report (DPR) to manage waste in a permanent way.

Chandan Nath Municipality produces around 40 quintals of garbage on a daily basis. Arjun Sigh Kathayat, ward chairman of Ward No. 5, said that garbage has caused harmful impacts on public health. He said, “The local unit should find a solution to the problem anyhow. Locals have been living in harsh conditions here.”