Morang, July 16: Two of eastern Morang’s largest municipalities, Urlabari and Pathari-Shanischare, have yet to establish permanent waste management systems despite having less than a year remaining in the current local government’s term.
Both municipalities continue to rely on temporary dumping sites while collecting millions of rupees annually in waste management fees. The absence of secure landfill facilities has led to indiscriminate waste disposal, worsening environmental and public health concerns. Urlabari Municipality currently disposes of municipal waste along the banks of the Bakraha River at Jhumra in Ward No. 5.
The situation has become increasingly serious after the Bakraha River changed its course and began eroding its eastern bank. During the monsoon, floodwaters regularly wash waste from the dumping site into the agricultural fields of Urlabari-8 and Ratuwamai-10, causing environmental damage and affecting local farmers.
The problem has persisted for the past four years, with heavy rainfall and riverbank erosion carrying large amounts of waste into nearby farmland. Until 2018, the municipality disposed of waste on its own land in Ward No. 3. After the river washed away that dumping site, Urlabari signed a waste management contract with Jaya Shree Pathibhara Environment Care Pvt. Ltd. on April 4, 2019.
The company’s proprietor, Netra Prasad Ghimire, said he had repeatedly informed the municipality before the five-year contract expired that an alternative landfill site needed to be arranged.
Although the contract expired in April 2024, the municipality has continued extending it temporarily after failing to find a new contractor. According to municipal officials, 10 to 13 tractor-loads of waste are transported daily to the riverbank by two municipal tractors.
Roshan Thakur, Information Officer of Urlabari Municipality, said the municipality had issued five separate tender notices over the past fiscal year but received no applications. He said suitable landfill sites had been identified several times, but local opposition prevented their development, making waste management the municipality’s biggest challenge.
Waste dumped inside community forest
Pathari-Shanischare Municipality faces similar problems, with municipal waste continuing to be dumped inside the Shanti Community Forest due to the lack of a permanent landfill site. The municipality currently generates approximately three tonnes of waste every day, and the same dumping site established during the former Pathari Village Development Committee remains in use.
According to Surendra Rai, head of the municipality’s Environment Section, waste collection has expanded from a single tractor to two tipper trucks and two tractors operating daily. However, Shanti Community Forest Vice-Chairman Nabaraj Mishra said the forest users’ committee has repeatedly requested the municipality to relocate the dumping site, but no action has been taken.
Local residents say biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste is dumped together without proper segregation.
Items including medical waste, used sanitary pads, poultry feathers, electronic waste, broken glass, intravenous bottles and tubing, liquor bottles, and salon waste are reportedly disposed of at the same site, posing significant environmental and public health risks.
Chief Administrative Officer Radhakrishna Khatiwada said the municipality had allocated Rs. 5 million in the current fiscal year’s budget for waste management through public-private partnership. However, the budget remained unused, and no allocation has been made for the upcoming fiscal year.
According to Revenue Section Chief Tara Prasad Dhakal, Pathari-Shanischare Municipality collected Rs. 1.145 million in waste management fees with only three days remaining in the 2025/26 fiscal year. #nepal
