“We are living here since ten years. Everybody wants us go away from here. One day someone came to us asking how we could be helped, I could not believe it,” said Ranjita Devi Podar, an informal waste worker living at Boudha Fulbari settlement. She grieved,” nobody wants us because of our job. We bring in the recyclables that the people throw away, yes! But we collect it and bring it here not to dump and pollute, rather we organize it to be sold. People blame us for their own littering behavior”. “This is our livelihood where should we go?” She questioned.
“We are living here since ten years. Everybody wants us go away from here. One day someone came to us asking how we could be helped, I could not believe it,” said Ranjita Devi Podar, an informal waste worker living at Boudha Fulbari settlement. She grieved,” nobody wants us because of our job. We bring in the recyclables that the people throw away, yes! But we collect it and bring it here not to dump and pollute, rather we organize it to be sold. People blame us for their own littering behavior”. “This is our livelihood where should we go?” She questioned.
Madan Podar another member in the settlement shared, “we do realize the environment is filthy where we live in, so together we organized to clean up the neighborhood, and now we have made a rule anybody littering will be penalized.” Both the members addressed the function organized to mark the World Environment Day in Baudha on 1 June 2012.
“Green Economy: Does it include you?” is the slogan for the World Environment Day, 2012. “We supported this campaign to make aware the waste workers, which we call them “Environmental Workers”,about the importance of cleanliness and their personal hygiene,” informed Manoj Sigdel, project coordinator. Altogether 102 active participants (75 from the settlement, 11 from Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) including 8 sweepers, 2 from Ward office, 7 of Bagmati Nagar Bikash Samaj and 9 from PRISM project) participated to clean the neighborhood today. About 4.5 tons of waste was collected and transported to disposal.
“Several complain have been filed to the ward office to remove this slum settlement number of times by the locals, the police, and others, but now the situation is different,” expressed Yubraj Khanal, Ward Secretary of Ward no 6, KMC.”If you maintain your place clean and healthy by managing your collected wastes, stop open defecation, and adhere to the regulations, the ward office is definitely going to support you to reside here further”, promised Mr. Khanal, who was the chief guest of the cleaning campaign organized by the Poverty reduction of Informal Waste Workers in the Solid Waste Management Sector (PRISM) project, a joint initiative of the Practical Action Nepal and Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD) with the support of the European Union.
Project manager for the PRISM, Srijana Devkota explained that the project activities focus to raise awareness on health, education and personal saving programs in the beginning. “Waste picking should be equally recognized as other job in the society”, she added, “And PRISM will be facilitating to achieve it”.
Ram Hari Sanjel, President of Bagmati Nagar Bikash Samaj, a local club thanked the PRISM initiative for the cleaning campaign, child education support and suggested to expand in the other similar settlements in the upcoming days.
The campaign concluded with the plantation in the settlement to maintain greenery promoting clean and pleasant environment.
Report by Reeza Shrestha