Regulatory hurdles stall Dharan waste-to-energy plant project

Regulatory obstacles have halted operations at a waste-to-energy plant in Ward 6 of Dharan, preventing the processing of local municipal refuse into compressed gas and organic fertilizer. The project was constructed with an investment of approximately NPR 240 million and designed to handle up to 50 metric tons of garbage every day. The facility was also engineered to yield 2,000 kilograms of gas daily during peak performance. However, administrative difficulties have kept the modern plant entirely non-operational, leaving local authorities unable to utilize the infrastructure. Because the recycling center remains offline, Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City has resumed its former practices of discarding waste directly into nearby ecosystems. Local collection services currently move between 30 and 40 metric tons of municipal refuse each day into a forest area situated alongside the Seuti River. A survey undertaken in 2081 BS confirmed that the urban center generates this volume of daily waste regularly, making constant disposal solutions necessary to manage the accumulating trash from city households and businesses. The return to forest disposal has renewed environmental and administrative concerns across the region. Officials noted that the town would not be experiencing its current waste management complications had the processing facility continued to run on a regular schedule. The prolonged stoppage forces surrounding communities to rely on open woodland sites while officials work through legal constraints, leaving the major capital investment unused while tens of metric tons of waste continue to enter local riverbanks daily.