Mitigating NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome as barriers to landfill siting : a case study of economic and regulatory measures for Gokarna landfill site, Kathmandu, Nepal | |
| Author | Pradhan, Neera Shrestha |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-98-9 |
| Subject(s) | NIMBY syndrome--Nepal--Kathmandu Sanitary landfills--Nepal--Kathmandu |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The most serious problem in acquiring a landfill site is gaining the acceptance and support of the affected residents. People are aware of the fact that at the end of a production and use-cycle of solid waste, a certain amount of material will remain, which must be disposed of. But no one wants a landfill site within their locality. Therefore, NIMBY can be described as an on-going process that is related to the opposition of the affected people against the location of a landfill site within their vicinity. In order to mitigate the problem of NIMBY opposition, this study has analyzed the effectiveness of economic and regulatory measures adopted by SWMRMC/KMC at Gokarna landfill site. It has also examined the effectiveness of public involvement in planning and decision making for waste disposal. From the experience gained by the Gokarna landfill site, the effective economic and regulatory measures are recommended to locate a landfill site in the future with minimum opposition from local resident. The research was conducted in various steps. The primary data collected during the field visit on measures taken to mitigate NIMBY opposition and the secondary data collected on the broader perspective of landfill site as well as the state of solid waste disposal in Greater Kathmandu were analyzed. With the findings of the research, the conclusions were presented. The study on the Gokarna landfill site found that the opposition started when the local people realized that they were not involved when their locality was selected for the purpose of landfilling. It was also found that, involving the local people in the planning and decision making process for a landfill site might not always minimize the problem rather it would help to find out the particular problems that the local people were facing at site. Frequent opposition from the local people was because SWMRMC/KMC were unable to provide the total amount of money as per the agreement made for village development works. Moreover, the money that was provided to Mulpani VDC was spent more on other villages than those that were directly affected by the landfill site. The lack of proper rules and regulations and lack of adequate funds from KMC were other reasons for the opposition. It is recommended that the local people should be involved during the site selection of the landfill site. In order to minimize the problem of the affected people (in terms of land and the environment), KMC should consider different alternative measures like purchasing the land, resettlement of the affected residents, acquisition of the land or providing compensations by analyzing the situation and the requirement of the local people. Providing buffer zones was one of the effective measures for mitigating the opposition. Policies are recommended to implement the rules and regulations for the buffer zone in an efficient way in Nepal. Moreover, to compensate the affected people for utilizing their land/vicinity for the purpose of the landfill site and to recover some portion of the project cost, collection of a waste disposal charge as a measure of financial cost recovery system is recommended. |
| Year | 1998 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Jamieson, Walter; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Yap Kioe Sheng ;Gengaje, Rajan; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Regional Urban Development Office ;United States Agency for International Development, New Delhi, India; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999 |