About 100 tonnes of expired and banned pesticides are lying in warehouses in Khumaltar, Nepalganj, Amlekhganj and the Cotton Development Board store in Khajura. These pesticides pose significant health risks.

The environment ministry signed an agreement with GTZ on 3 April to safely dispose of this stockpile of poison but nothing has been done. "GTZ should have begun the disposal works two weeks after this, we can't do anything about it," said Mina Khanal, spokesperson of the ministry. GTZ was meant to open bids in Germany for disposal.

Some of these expired pesticides have been lying in warehouses for over 30 years. They include such banned chemicals as DDT, aldrin, edrin, mercury compounds, BHC, methyl bromides, stored in liquid form in rotting containers.

Nepal does not have the technology or the expertise to deal with such pesticides, which is why they have to be sent abroad to be destroyed. European countries destroy such chemicals in atomic power plants as the process requires temperatures of between 500-1000C. Environmental organisations like Greenpeace, meanwhile, advocate that those countries that produce pesticides should take the responsibility for disposing of them.