Social Justice Issues with the 2014 EWB Challenge in Nepal

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Recommended: Solid waste management in our locality

I have chosen the project topic of waste management for the 2014 EWB Challenge in Nepal and in my essay I shall attempt to highlight the social justice issues which are both conspicuously as well as subtly entwined with it.
Hasty and unrestrained urbanization, coupled with the lack of public awareness regarding poor participation by local municipalities have resulted in a crisis of waste management and disposal in Nepal (Asian Development Bank 2013). The process of urbanization seems to be increasing at a disturbing rate putting enormous pressure on the various municipal services on issues of waste management. Presently most of the waste materials are not being properly managed locally, and this in turn is creating both a severe health and environmental danger, particularly in the slum areas, where the inhabitants do not have enough opportunities to opt for better services and are also quite often overlooked by the municipalities they fall under (Wateraid.org n.d.).
It is widely known that most of the garbage which is collected by the municipalities in Nepal is discarded haphazardly into public places or natural resources like the river, this is with the exception of Tribhuwan Nagar, Kathmandu and Pokhara because in these places there are Sanitary Land II sites or landfills which are created for waste management. But in spite of the creation of such sanitary land sites which are meant for the purpose of waste management the majority of industrial wastes are still found to be carelessly discarded into rivers and left untreated at the disposal sites. Medical wastes are destroyed by the concerned institutions but at times even these do not make it to the places they are designated for. A sizable portion of urban Nepal is suffering f...

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...ces and Challenges, Waste Management 25." 555-562. Science Direct, 2005.
Riley, Donna. Engineering and Social Justice. Morgan and Claypool Publishers, 2010.
SWMRMC/UN-HABITAT. 10 Steps for a Clean City Technical Guidelines for Solid Waste Management in Nepal (Draft). Lalitpur, 2008.
Tuladhar, A, and A Bania. Technical and Economic Analysis of Bhaktapur Compost Plant - Nepal, Urban Waste Expertise. 1997.
Varro MJ, Gombkoto G, and Szeremi A. Risk factors of a mass lead exposure. Hungary, 2001.
WaterAid. Solid Waste Management in Nepal. Research Paper, WaterAid, 2008.
Wateraid.org. n.d. http://www.wateraid.org/~/media/Publications/solid-waste-management-nepal.pdf (accessed April 19, 2014).
World Health Organization . Polulation Health and Waste Management: Scientific Data and Available Options. Report of a WHO workshop, Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2007.

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