Future of Okharpauwa landfill site still uncertain

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Nov 7 - The future of the 250 million-rupee landfill site at Okharpauwa is still uncertain as the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), the prime user of the site, is not convinced that the solution is indeed practical.

Municipality officials say the new landfill site being constructed by the government will cost about Rs 680,000 per day for the municipalities because it is located far away from the city centre.

The Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre (SWMRMC) of Ministry of Local Development is constructing infrastructures to turn this 430 ropanis of land at the northern fringe of the Valley, Sisdol of Okharpauwa VDC, into a landfill site. Okharpauwa has been regarded as the proper alternative for solid waste management in the Kathmandu Valley, at least for the next 5 to 7 years.

But KMC is still indifferent to the solution being sought since last two years after the previous landfill site at Gokarna was filled up.

Mayor of Kathmandu Keshav Sthapit has repeatedly opposed the government’s selection of the site, saying that it is not practical and is "motivated by the personal interest of political figures." Instead, he has asked the government to provide 200 ropanis of land outside the city area, where a composting plant could be established to manage solid waste.

"Everybody knows that dumping 300-400 metric tonnes of solid waste at a place as far away as Okharpauwa, about 28 kilometres away from the city, in trucks is not possible," the mayor said. "This will only create unwanted hazards everyday."

Head of KMC’s Environment Department Shanta Ram Pokharel said KMC has been asking the government to provide a nearer location, where a composting plant could be established because solid waste is not a thing to throw away but to reuse it.

"We have been asking the government to provide us some land in Halchowk or Chobhar areas but our voice has never been heard," Pokharel said.

But he did not say whether KMC would deny using Okharpauwa or not. Rather he added that the present facility of vehicles KMC now has is insufficient to transport solid waste there.

Solid Waste Section Chief of KMC Rajesh Manandhar said the biggest problem KMC will have to face now is because of the distance. The site lies 28 kilometres away from the city centre and the vehicles will have to face long traffic jams, especially at the Balaju Bypass.

He estimated that the transportation alone would cost KMC about Rs. 250 million if they use the new landfill site. Instead, the government should use this money to acquire land in nearer location, he said.

KMC presently has seven compactor trucks and one open dump truck to transport 650 cubic metres of solid waste that the Kathmanduites produce everyday.

"We will have to make four trips of eight trucks to travel 28 kilometres each carrying 20 cubic metre of garbage in narrow roads. That is quite difficult if not impossible. And one cannot expect all the vehicles to be in condition everyday," says Manandhar.

However, Devi Prasad Subedi, general manager of SWMRMC, says that finding a site near the city is not possible.

"We agree, the proposed site is far away. But there is no other way than choosing that place to make a landfill site," Subedi said. "And the distance is not very far in the present day."

Subedi added that the construction of roads has been completed except for the last three kilometres and two bridges and a public notice for land acquisition is being published soon.

Kathmandu and Lalitpur have been dumping the wastes along the banks of the Bagmati river for the last seven months. Earlier, the garbage was used to fill the area around Guheshwori and Jorpati until protests arose as birds hit aeroplanes in the nearby Tribhuwan International Airport.

Her Majesty gives away prizes to GAA spelling contest winners

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KATHMANDU, Nov 7 – A team comprising of Kritika Thapa, Shastha Banu, Priyata Thapa, Poonam Shakya from Paragon High School "A" walked away with the first prize in the 27th Aishwarya Shield High School Spelling Contest organised by the Godavari Alumni Association (GAA), an ex-student alumni of St.Xavier’s School in the capital today.

Pratistha Joshi, Anupama Bhattarai, Surya Narayan Singh, Neashanth Thapa from Paragon Public School "B" and Susang Numa Nembang, Semi Maden, Sikshya Baidya and Isha Rajbhandari from Galaxy Public School bagged the second and third prizes respectively.

Likewise, Aakash Shakya from Paragon Public School "A" accepted the first prize, Richa Bhurtel, from Paragon Public School "B", the second prize and Mahima Tiwari, from Galaxy Public School the third prize in the 11th Aishwarya Shield Primary School Spelling Contest.

A total of 25 high schools and 27 primary schools had participated in this year’s event out of which 6 schools from the primary level and 6 from the high school level reached the finals.

Schools participating in the final round in the high school category were Galaxy Public School, Guheshwori High School "A", Morning Glory High School, Nightingale High School, Paragon Public High School "A" and Paragon Public High School "B". The participants in the primary category were Galaxy Public School, Nightingale School, Paragon Public School "A", Paragon Public School "B", Sky Lark English School and Triyog Girls School.

Speaking at the function President of GAA, Mahendra Man Shakya expressed his gratitude to Her Majesty for being present on the occasion and giving continuity to the countries oldest and the most prestigious spelling contest.

"Her late Majesty Queen Aishwarya’s continuous commitment to the education sector of the Nepali youth is what has brought the spelling contest this far. Her Majesty’s presence has galvanized and invigorated all of us and Her Majesty’s guidance now and in the coming years will be invaluable to our members and participants. The tradition and legacy carries on and we feel proud and fortunate to have a new patron for the GAA spelling contests", he said.

The GAA has been holding this contest since 1972 and according to Shakya, the major goals of the spelling contest are to improve the student’s grasp of the English language and to provide them with a platform for healthy competition. He complimented Surendra Sthapit, Chairperson of the organising committee and the 50 GAA volunteers for their support.

Her Majesty Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah attended the contest and made her first official public function since her proclamation as the Queen. Her Majesty the Queen gave away prizes and certificates to all the participants and the winners in the function.

Teachers condemn Seventh Amendment on Education Bill

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KATHMANDU, Nov 7- The Nepal National Teachers’ Association (NNTA) and the Nepal Teachers’ Association (NTA) today condemned the Seventh Amendment on Education Bill.

"The 13-point demands concerning the problems in educational field were submitted to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Education and Sports respectively on August 19, 2001 but the government does not seem to be least concerned and we are shocked," a press release issued here by the NNTA and the NTA states.

Before the introduction of the Seventh Amendment on Education Bill, education was free up to secondary level but now the government has imposed fee to secondary level students and the two Associations protest this decision of the government, the press release adds.

It has also demanded the government to solve the educational problems being faced by teachers, students and parents. It also requested the government to make the schools’ environment healthy and secure.

‘Hundreds of tube-wells contaminated with arsenic’

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INARUWA, Nov 7 - More than hundred tube wells of 46 Village Development Committees of Inaruwa and Itahari Municipality are found contaminated with a naturally occurring element arsenic.

According to a recent studies carried by Department of Drinking Water and Sewerage 108 tube wells contained arsenic and similarly 113 tube wells tested positive for harmful pathogenic bacteria. The higher concentration of arsenic was found in the eastern part of the district.

However experts say that the tested concentration is still beyond the limit.

"There’s no need to fear from the present level of arsenic but people should be conscious about the high level of pathogens present in the water", said Subash Shrestha, district engineer at District Drinking Water office.

Research on the presence of arsenic in ground water of Nepal was first done in the year 1999 after a havoc of arsenic poisoning spread in the neighbouring West Bengal and Bangladesh. According to the set standards of WHO the tolerable level of arsenic in drinking water should not exceed more than 0.01 per cent but the survey carried out by the department has showed that arsenic concentration is more than 0.05 per cent in the district.

Engineers at department say that the immediate effect of drinking such water will be evident due to the pathogenic bacteria present. "Waste thrown around the tube wells area are leached into ground water and hence pathogen problem has intensified", said Shrestha. According to Shrestha these pathogens are responsible for the spread of gastrointestinal diseases.

Although Department has set a plan to clearly identify the drinking water taps free of pollutants at Municipal and district level by 2001 no directives has been made so far.

Locals impede road construction in Sindhuli

SINDHULI, Nov 7 (PR)- Technicians and workers on Tuesday returned to their camps after the locals prevented them from working on Madi-Khurkot section of the Bardibas-Sindhuli highway over the compensation to their land that fell under the road.

Some of the land owners from Gadauli bridge Ram Madi area prevented the technicians for working on the road, saying that the workers tried to demolish their houses before the Home Ministry finally gave its verdict on the petition the locals had filed at the ministry.

A local, Rita Karki whose land has also been acquired by the road project, said that the compensation committee decided to compensate her lower amount of money as compared to market value of her land. Earlier, the Supreme Court had termed the previously formed compensation committee illegal and ordered to follow the existing law.

However, the newly formed compensation committee also followed suit of the previous committee without taking the affected families into confidence.

Bhim Bahadur Thapa, another victim of the project, said that the Ministry of Home should not be delaying in giving its judgement regarding the impasse.

The contractors, on the other hand, said that they had to bear financial loss due to the dispute between the landowner and the project.

Phul Kumar Tamang representing the contractor said that they arrived at the site after the local administration claimed that the differences between the locals and project had been sorted out but the locals did not allow them to work on the site.

Commercial ginger cultivation in Gulmi

TAMGHAS, Nov 7 (RSS) - Cultivation of ginger is to be carried out on a commercial basis in Gulmi district which has earned fame for production of coffee in the kingdom of Nepal.

Taking into consideration the possibility of cultivating ginger as the main cash crop in the mid-hill areas of Nepal Gulmi Arghakhanchi Development Project (GARDEP), and the Gulmi agriculture development office had launched ginger crop demonstration and production of healthy ginger roots in three village development committees four years back.

After the farmers produced more ginger than their expectation under the first and second phases, the farmers of more than 18 village development committees have started cultivating ginger on a commercial basis these days.

As ginger cultivated in the shady areas gives good harvest, the farmers have started cultivating maize and ginger simultanously in their fields and generating double income. As a result of this the farmers have been attracted towards cultivating ginger in their fields these days. Altogether 1,600 quintals of ginger has been cultivated at Digam village development committee which produces the maximum amount of ginger in Gulmi district.

The village development committee is expected to produce 8,000 quintals of ginger this year, according to chairman of the ginger development committee Thakur Bhandari.

Humnath Bhandari a farmer of the same VDC who cultivated 25 quintals of ginger in his field expects a harvest of 180 to 200 quintals of ginger this year.

Even though there was no shortage of ginger in the past few years, some businessmen had to return empty handed when GARDEP contacted the businessmen of Tansen, Bhairahawa, Kathmandu, Butwal and other places to purchase the ginger produced in Gulmi district.

The businessmen had to return empty handed because of the delay in coming to the district to purchase ginger as well as the slackness shown by the local farmers in producing ginger because of the lack of marketing guarantee.

Gardep organised a two-day seminar on marketing of ginger with the objective of developing an understanding and concluding an agreement between the ginger growers and businessmen for marketing of the ginger produced in the district.

Likewise, GARDEP has also been providing the local farmers ginger seeds, other necessary materials and assistance with the objective of encouraging them to cultivate ginger.

As a result of this, the farmers have been attracted towards cultivating ginger on a large commercial basis.

Terror is a conspiracy of Maoist: Poudel

BHADRAPUR, Nov 7 (RSS) - Nepali Congress central member and former deputy prime minister Ram Chandra Poudel has termed the spree of murder, violence and terror in the country a conspiracy thrust upon the country by the Maoists.

Poudel made this remark at a prize distribution programme organised by The Jaya Nepal Pratibha Protsahan Pratisthan in Birtamod of Jhapa district on Tuesday.

On the occasion, the former deputy prime minister expressed the view that the Maoists were surviving in a world of fear and illusion they have created and they would fizzle out once this sense of fear and illusion could be wiped out from the mind of the people.

At the programme, Poudel presented the Rs 10,000 ‘C K Prasain-Haribhakta Talency Award’ to Swochhanda Songmen, the topper of this year’s School Leaving Certificate(SLC) examination, and the ‘Bhrikuti-Shivamaya Talency Award’ to Miss Urmila Mainali, the topper of this year’s SLC examination from among the girl students from Jhapa district, the ‘Padam-Muga Excellency Award’ to Anup Poudel, the topper in this year’s SLC examination from public schools, the ‘Bhaiyatudu-Parsuram best teacher award’ to Lav Mainali, the ‘Manmohan-Tek Bahadur best farmer award’ to Haridhoj Khatri and the ‘Dronacharya-Sher Bahadur Jhapa Jyoti Award’ to Prachanda Lal Maskey.

Poudel also released a book entitled "Koshika Lahar" by Purushottam Khatiwada on the occasion. The programme was chaired by Pratisthan chairman Gopal Kumar Basnet.

Social works to be extended in Sankhuwasava

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KHADBARI (Sankhuwasava) Nov 7 - Cunina, Nepal, a non- governmental organisation carrying out several social activities in the district is to extend its activities in the days to come.

According to Tara Man Gurung, Chairman of Cunina, Nepal, they are to extend their activities to the establishment of health post, library and others besides their on going activities on providing hostel and scholarship.

Cunina which literally means cradle of God is functioning in Brazil, Haiti and Congo and Philippines besides Nepal. The promoters of Cunina, Sophe Vangel and Dr Lois Germeys, both of them Belgian citizen are also internationally renowned social workers." That’s why Cunina, Nepal has a greater scope of success" said Gurung who has devoted half of his life in social works.

In the Hostel currently running by Cunina, Nepal in Khadbari, 17 students are being provided with education and logistics.

Talking about the reason of the success of Cunina even in the Maoist affected district, social worker Pahsang Sherpa said," We duly maintain the audit of our income and expenditure in a transparent manner to be known by the public easily."

Chhimi Bhotia who is contributing the organisation from the initial days of the organisation informed that the children at the hostel get medical check up regularly.