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Kathmandu, Nepal, April 22, 2023: The Supreme Court (SC), the apex court of the country, has issued an interim order against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) to collect the garbage from Singha Durbar, the principal secretariat of the federal government of Nepal, and dispose it within three days.
Responding to the writ petition filed by advocate Padam Bahadur Shrestha, a single bench of Justice Prakashman Singh Raut on Friday ordered the KMC to collect the garbage within three days stating that not disposing of the waste in places like Singha Durbar will directly affect the health and life of the citizens.
Alleging to the federal government for not trusting the KMC, Mayor Balen Shah had ordered not to collect the garbage from Singha Durbar, Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Baluwatar and the Office of President, Shital Niwas. In the verdict, the SC has also ordered the KMC to collect the garbage of Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Baluwatar and the Office of President, Shital Niwas.
The interim order, the SC has also drawn the attention of the government bodies concerned to ensure necessary coordination between the Government of Nepal, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in waste management stating that there should be a collective and continued effort of the citizens, including institutional stakeholders to resolve the issue of waste management.
‘Garbage collection and disposal should not be avoided under any circumstances,’ the SC has stated in the order stating as ‘the citizen's right to live in a clean and healthy environment is linked to the precious life. Not collecting garbage is directly connected to the life of the citizen.’
In the order, the SC has also remained the local bodies about their role and responsibilities stating as ‘the Solid Waste Management Act, 2068 has given the responsibility to the local level government to manage and make final disposal and management of garbage.’
