Sisdole locals vow never to obstruct garbage dumping again

If the Sisdole locals don't again go back on their words again and the government sincerely fulfills its promises, the perennial garbage problem of Kathmandu would soon be over for good and probably never return to haunt the denizens of the city again.
The agitating Sisdole locals in a meeting with concerned government agencies Thursday agreed not to block Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) from dumping solid waste at Sisdole Landfill Site, as they had been doing for the majority of the past two weeks and many times prior to that.
According to an independent report, Sisdole locals have obstructed KMC from dumping city's wastage at the landfill site more than 100 times in the past two years, leaving Kathmandu's streets and pavements littered with stinking garbage that cause serious eye sore and possible health hazards.
For the first time, the Sisdole locals have also signed a written agreement with the government expressing their commitment not to obstruct dumping work in the coming days. In a similar gesture, the government has assured that all the valid demands of the locals including infrastructure development in the locality would be solved through dialogue.
With the agreement, KMC and Lalitpur sub-metropolis have started collecting garbage from today morning and transporting it to the landfill site without any obstruction. KMC officials said that they would clear the garbage from the capital within a few days. According to KMC, the valley generates up to 350 metric tones of solid waste every day.
Due to the obstruction by the Sisdole locals, heaps of stinking garbage has littered the pavements of the capital's roads from the past two weeks.
Reports said that the meeting also decided to earmark a budget of more than Rs 10 million for developing infrastructure and meeting other needs of Sisdole. nepalnews.com ag June 27 08

Valley banda again affect Kathmandu

Only a day after transport entrepreneurs withdrew their 4-day long strike that brought the entire country into a standstill, normal life in Kathmandu has again been affected by a valley-wide banda called by four fringe parties led Communist Party of Nepal (United).
The organizers of the banda (shutdown strike) blocked traffic at various places of the capital from the morning protesting the government’s recent decision to hike the prices of petroleum products and transport fares and the rampant corruption in Nepal Oil Corruption, the state-owned oil monopoly in the country.
Although the effects of the banda was partial compared to the strike organized by transport entrepreneurs and street protests by student groups before that, it still brought the valley’s transportation system to a halt. Due to the strike, shops and offices in major parts of the city mostly remained closed fearing any untoward incidents, while schools also called it a day off for the students.
Public transport users who had heaved a sigh of relief after the transport entrepreneurs ended their 4-day long strike from yesterday were again forced to walk to their destinations due to very little number of public vehicles plying in the streets.
However, few private vehicles including cars, motorbikes and cycles were seen plying in the streets without any kind of obstruction, although there were reports about half a dozen or so vehicles being vandalized by protestors at Gongabu, Kalanki and various other parts of the city for violating the day long shutdown.
Additionally, due to the obstruction created by the protestors at Kalanki, the main point of entry in the capital, vehicles coming into the city have been stuck in a long jam in the highway.
Meanwhile, reports said that the police have held various leaders and activists of the four political parties - CPN-United, Tamsaling Nepal National Party, CPN (United Marxist) and Nepal Sukumbasi Loktantrik Party - under custody for imposing the shutdown strike.