LAHORE – The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has unveiled Modern Sanitation Plan for commercial markets and has launched as a pilot project in Barkat Market and Garden Town.
The plan, according to LWMC Managing Director Waseem Ajmal, will improve the cleanliness and local environment by providing effective waste collection system. An official from the DCO office told Pakistan Today that LWMC, subsidiary of City District Government Lahore (CDGL), had launched the sanitation plan after the formal approval from Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who was apprised of details and execution strategy last week.
Sanitation plan will deal with 53,000 square meter market area, 3,400 sq meters area of roads, 1,300 sq meters area of corridors, 870 sq meters of road length, 7 meters of road width, 3,500 sq meters under parking , 60,000 sq meters of green area, 24 total plazas and 4 open plots in Barkat Market.
LWMC has inked an agreement with a private company, Waste Busters. After the success of Barket Market, the sanitation plan is intended to be outsourced further in major commercial markets including Liberty Market, Moon Market, Main Market Gulberg, Anarkali, Model Town Link Road, Urdu Bazaar, Shah Alam, Ferdous Market, Karim Block Market, Johar Town J Block Market, the Mall, Akbari Mandi and Shadman Market.
LWMC has set out 13-point strategy that includes creating awareness among business owners and visitors to maintain cleanliness, daily sweeping of road and connecting streets, door-to-door waste collection, transfer of daily waste generated by businesses and visitors to the designated communal waste storage points; either manually or mechanically (animal driven carts will not be allowed), sprinkling of market roads to reduce suspended particulates, deployment of team of waste pickers to pick plastic bags, wrappers, for removal of solid waste, if any, from open plots within market area and keeping them waste free, establishment of adequately equipped complaint redressing system in the makeshift office to be provided by LWMC, waste bins, if installed, to be emptied at least twice a day, special arrangements for cleanliness on a special events such Muharram, Eidul Azha, Eidul Fitr and Eid Miladun Nabi, cleanliness of roads, streets and gully granting after rains and dust storms, uniform provision of health and safety gadgets and the service provider will maintain local area office equipped with telephone connection for public complaints.
LWMC MD said that LWMC had been sparing no effort to change the waste management culture. “Public places especially commercial markets are facing plenty of sanitation problems. The commercial markets are the spot which are regularly visited by the citizens from all walks of life. The level of sanitary conditions in commercial markets is source of concern for the visitors and commercial markets must present a clean look to attract more customers and promote business activities,” he maintained. An official of LWMC said that parallel to commercial markets, LWMC had already launched door-to-door waste collection plan in six model areas.
