Police fired five rounds into the air to disperse the protesters obstructing garbage trucks on their way to the Banchare Danda landfill site on Tuesday.

The protestors had stopped the garbage trucks at Dhadey between Nuwakot and Dhading, said Dinesh Raj Mainali, Superintendent of Police at the District Police Range, Kathmandu.

“The situation turned tense when the locals of Sisdole started throwing stones using catapults at the police,” said Mainali. “The police had to fire into the air to disperse the crowd.”

Over 200 Armed Police Force personnel from Kathmandu, Nuwakot and Dhading were deployed to escort the garbage trucks from Kathmandu to Banchare Danda.

According to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, until 5pm on Tuesday 126 truckloads of garbage was dumped at the Banchare Danda landfill site.

Earlier on Monday the local leaders at Sisdole led by Shree Ram Dhungana, coordinator of the Banchare Danda Landfill Affected Area Concern Committee, had announced the cancellation of their three-month-long protest set to start on August 17 following the formation of a technical team by the Ministry of Urban Development to conduct environmental impact and infrastructure assessments at Banchare Danda.

On Monday, District Court Nuwakot had issued arrest warrants for local leaders Purna Singh Tamang from Nepali Congress, Vishnu Tamang from CPN Maoist (Centre), Bhisan Dhital from CPN United Socialist for their involvement in vandalism last week.

On the night last Monday, two bulldozers, one excavator and 14 tipper trucks were vandalised by an unknown gang near the Nuwakot-Dhading border. 

Nepali Congress’ Nuwakot district president Purna Singh Tamang, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued, told the Post on the phone that they have not cancelled their planned protest. “Police have become more brutal towards us. We won’t stop our protest unless the government stops taking garbage from Kathmandu to Banchare Danda,” said Tamang.

He also insisted that the Banchare Danda Landfill Affected Area Concern Committee withdrawing their protest does not concern them.

“All the political parties in the district have agreed to participate in the protest because it’s been 17 years that the people in our area are suffering,” said Tamang. “There have been agreements between locals and authorities on 174 various occasions, but none has been implemented,” said Tamang.