Public-Private Dialogue is a program that assembles corresponding stakeholders including policymakers, intellectuals, social activists, entrepreneurs, and civil society members to gather surplus insights and information on certain policy research papers. Bikalpa an Alternative conducted a Public-Private Dialogue on the “Sewerage System of Biratnagar” that involved a total of 26 stakeholders comprising the Mayor of Biratnagar, Ward Chairmans, Project Manager social activists, politicians, and members of the different federations. The objective of the event was to generate discussion on what should be done by the metropolis to incline large numbers of households toward the sewerage system of Biratnagar. The program was held at Hotel Shreekrishna on 23rd August.
The program was moderated by Mr. Basanta Adhikari, director of Bikalpa an Alternative At the beginning of the program, a video was played which highlighted the policy, financial and personal issues concerning the Sewerage System of Biratnagar. Followed by that, Shristika Neupane presented the possible way forward in overcoming the hurdles faced by service-seekers referring to the Sewerage system. After this floor was opened for discussion.
Mr. Bharat Neupane, project manager of STIUEIP and RUDP projects, expressed that based on the demand of residents of Biratnagar, the government identified the main problems of Biratnagar which were waterlogging, unmanaged roads, etc. People weren’t doing proper management of wastage and even now it has not been managed efficiently. Households openly flowed body waste to the nearby drainage which was discharged into the river without proper treatment causing environmental degradation and health hazards. The project was identified by citing all these factors. He highlighted that after arousal of a dispute regarding the sewerage tariff, we sat for the discussion with stakeholders and cut off the 50% tariff. Metropolis also omitted Nrs.3000 connection charge to encourage households for connecting to the sewerage chamber.
He said we can’t guarantee that there won’t be any technical errors as the whole sewerage system has been set up underground. But to maintain any technical faults maintenance staff has been recruited. However, we can guarantee tariff amassed by the metropolis has been utilized efficiently. After the new mayor’s election, the tariff was further reduced by 25% by considering the grievance of service seekers. The tariff has been made mandatory for all; else we won’t be left with other options than closing the big-budget project. He further said that for those who are unable to connect the house chamber to the sewerage chamber, there is a facility for desludging two times a year without any cost. He presented that the estimated income generation from tariffs in the year 2077/78 was Rs.2,25,95,000 but the metropolis only was successful in amassing Rs. 1,12,54,000.
Followed by that, Mr. Abhinayak Malla opined that any project should undertake a need analysis before commencing it. Citizens right now need the basic infrastructure instead of this huge project which has been unnoticed. He further added that this project started amassing tariffs from service seekers without completing the venture work which is totally erroneous. He said till date, not any single project run by the government has become successful, so this project has also created distrust among the citizen of Biratnagar.
After that, Mr. Arjun Giri, ward chairman of Biratnagar 10 mentioned that with the sewerage system Biratnagar has got better road and drainage systems which is a remarkable gain of this project. He also mentioned that the road upgradation has increased the height of the road which has led many households to be below the road surface.
Likewise, Mr. Uttam Dhungel from the public forum expressed that this project is already finished now, so it is not appropriate to oppose it. Government should discover ways of convincing the general people. Mr. Suman Sushkera clarified the conclusion drawn by the previous stakeholder dialogues and discourses on the sewerage system.
Followed by this, Anju Dahal, ward representative of Biratnagar 5 said that a sewerage system is necessary for the house built in a small area. If sewage flow through the chamber the possible health hazards caused by polluted drinking water can be minimized. Similarly, Mr. Sanjeev Chapagain said that the government failed to steer the project in the right direction due to a dearth of confidence by the public. Mr. Nirmal Tamang pointed out that this project is a very expensive project for an emerging city like Biratnagar and only adds a tax burden to the public who are mostly from low middle-class families. He put forward his doubt about the sustainability of the project. He suggested the Metropolitan office organize discourses on this topic incorporating ward chairmen and other stakeholders to solve the problem related to the sewerage system radically.
After that, Mr. Sagar Thapa from CPN-UML mentioned that this project has helped a lot in embellishing Biratnagar, and we all should appreciate this project for that. He further added that we as citizens should be custodians and fulfill the social responsibility of protecting this project. At the end of the session the Mayor of Biratnagar, Mr. Nagesh Koirala opined that Metropolis is ready to have further stakeholders’ discussion programs on the way out to solve the grievance set forth by the public. He requested all the stakeholders to have further discussions to conclude this subject matter.
