BABA (Balbalika & Batabaran) project concludes at two schools in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: With the collaboration of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), the Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD) and Bottlers Nepal Limited, BABA (Balbalika and Batabaran) project officially concludes in 2 community schools in Kathmandu’s inner core.

The initiative was concluded with the handover of the Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) at both schools with the presence of Deputy Mayor of KMC, Ms. Sunita Dangol, Education expert from KMC City Planning Commission, Mr. Shailendra Jha, and ward officials.

The program, which began in June 2024, intends to expand student’s knowledge beyond books and educate them on environmental issues.

It addresses environment friendly adaptations like waste segregation at source, separate collection, recycling and upcycling. The program also includes activities on WASH and Urban Water Management.

The program has been implemented at Himalaya Secondary School, Duganbahil, Newroad- ward no. 22 and Shree Mahendra Saraswoti Sewa Basic School, Teku, Ward no. 12 of KMC.

During the handover ceremony, students hosted tours to the guests of the 2 schools to showcase the newly established MRFs that includes innovative waste prevention, source segregation, and separate collection systems that they will continue to use. The students will use the MRFs to collect recyclables and sell them to the collection vendor.

The students intend to utilize the income generated by selling the waste to collectors and fund future BABA subgroup school events.

All waste collected and sold will be kept recorded for future reference and to understand the impact of the program.

Ms. Sunita Dangol, Deputy Mayor of KMC, concluded by encouraging students, the school management team. She thanked Coca-Cola Beverages Nepal and CIUD for successfully conducting the “Balbalika ra Batabaran (BABA) – a School-Based Environmental Education Program,” which is part of KMC’s Book Free Friday initiative. She underlined that such innovative approaches will help students learn and adopt such practices more effectively.

Mr. Shailendra Jha, Expert Member, CPC, KMC shed light on the functioning model of BABA subgroups and recognized MRFs are more practicable than using the same type of dustbins for waste collection.

This has helped students understand the value of the items they used to toss away which they now collecting revenue from.

Similarly, Mr. Bal Krishna Maharjan, Ward No. 12 Chairperson expressed that the initiative is very impressive, he wanted to start the segregation campaign in the household from his 12 wards and was delighted to see the initiative started by the school children of his ward.

He thanked the school children, teachers and management. Likewise, he thanked CIUD for the project implementation partner Coca-Cola Beverage Nepal.

On behalf of CIUD, Mr. Nabin Bikash Maharjan, Executive Director, said that after learning at schools, students would be able to apply their knowledge to their families, keeping them clean and orderly and recognizing the worth of waste.

Ms. Sneha Shrestha, Communications and Sustainability Manager, at Coca-Cola Beverages Nepal shared, “A better shared future is something we really believe at Coca-Cola, – and the BABA Project combines the children who will build the future and the knowledge it aims to imprint amongst the children to strive for sustainable environment. We are humbled to be part of KMC’s Book-Free Friday initiatives and thankful to our implementing partner CIUD for making this a success in the 2 schools.”

Er. Dilli Ratna Shakya, Chairperson of Himalayan Secondary School, thanked the CIUD team and Coca-Cola Beverages Nepal for their assistance and initiatives. At the same time, he praised Ms. Dangol for visiting the school and encouraging the team.