A new group of locals from the area surrounding the Okharpauwa landfill site obstructed 16 trucks transporting garbage from Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) had started collecting garbage from the streets of Kathmandu following an agreement between the Ministry of Local Development and an agitating group of locals on Monday. The ministry had assured the group of jobs for locals and development works in the upcoming fiscal year.

Gangadhar Gautam, officer at the Environment Department of KMC, told Nepali Times that another group of locals has also come up with similar demands, including employment, compensation for land, and infrastructure development. “It has become a trend to form groups and put forth demands. This should be dealt with once and for all,” Gautam said.

Garbage from Kathmandu has not been collected for the past week, and heaps of garbage on the streets pose a threat to public health. According to Gautam, KMC has built a pit in Teku for the time being to dispose of Kathmandu garbage. It has been able to collect garbage from the roads leading from Kalimati to the airport as this is an ‘A’ grade road. But piles of garbage continue to grow in other parts of the Valley.

Valley dwellers face this problem every month on average. In the last five years, garbage disposal has been obstructed at least 61 times. Locals come up with demands and the government offers a package of solutions, which does not, however, get implemented.