Rampant garbage piles raise stink along Kaligandaki corridor

Hundreds of people traveling through the Kaligandaki corridor are bearing the brunt of rampant pile-up of garbage along the road sides.It has been several years since the waste emanated from Baglung Bazaar every day has been mounded along the Kaligandaki corridor sides. The pile-up of garbage here has troubled the Maldhunga residents and corridor travelers.

The ‘dumping side’ located nearby Baglung Bazaar in the vicinity of Kaligandaki Corridor – the national pride project has also been a ridiculous show for the visitors.The Baglung Municipality that has been throwing waste to the Kaligandaki River for around one-and-a-half decades had started managing solid wastes along the corridor sides after a court order.

Just above the dumping site for waste management, there lies the Kalika Temple, a popular tourism destination.The stinky environment resulting in from rampant management of waste has also affected the temple.

Baglung Municipality which has been temporarily dumping its waste along the corridor over the years has not been able to place a well-managed dumping site. Consequently, it has troubled travelers, locals and worshippers here.

Padma Nepali, a vehicle driver, said the pungent smell emanating from the mound of waste has caused problem to hundreds of passengers who daily travel through the corridor road. ‘I have to ply my vehicles twice along the stinking corridor road. There is a rampant pile-up of waste everywhere. The bad smell of waste is a big problem in the summer. Passengers feel nausea and vomit also due to stink’, he said.

The municipality has been showing reasons such as budget deficit, local obstruction and delay in preparation of detailed project report for not advancing the proper management of waste. In lack of the implementation of a plan for the construction of well-managed landfill site for sustainable management of waste, the travelers have been bearing the brunt of stinky environment, complained Shiva Sunar, a local of Jaimini municipality-8.

However, Baglung municipality mayor Basanta Kumar Shrestha said a well-managed dumping site would be placed in coordination among the local, provincial and federal level governments after land management for the same.