KARACHI – Despite clear instructions from the Supreme Court, the provincial government and the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) are yet to ensure proper implementation of the industrial waste disposal plan, it has been learnt.
Well-placed sources told Pakistan Today that the provincial and the city governments seem reluctant to take measures for disposing of industrial waste efficiently, as directed by the apex court.
Taking suo motu notice of environmental pollution in the city, the Supreme Court had directed the government proper disposal of the haphazard and ill-planned waste generated in Karachi, which has raised pollution in the city at an alarming level.
A few months ago, the provincial authorities had submitted a report with the apex court stating that a new plan for disposing industrial waste has been chalked out under the court’s orders.
Under the new plan, each industrial zone was to construct garbage collection points or ‘katchra kundis’ for proper removal of waste. The management companies of the industrial zones in Korangi, Landhi, Federal B Area and North Karachi were to provide funds for the construction of such collection points in their respective jurisdictions while the SITE Ltd – a government body dealing with industry-related issues – was to pay for the points in the area under its control.
Besides, each industrial unit had to pay for transporting waste to the collection points and then the Town Municipal Administration had to shift the garbage either to a transfer station or directly to a designated landfill site in the city’s outskirts, for which the resources of the CDGK were to be used.
The CDGK had also forwarded a letter to the Sindh Finance Department with a request to provide additional funds to the town administrations for meeting the expenditures of the new industrial waste disposal plan. The new plan had been approved after hectic efforts with the involvement of Sindh government, CDGK and the representatives of trade bodies.
However, the Sindh government has refused to provide any funds, citing worst-ever financial constraints, sources disclosed. Recently, the sources said, the management companies had also refused to provide funds for the waste disposal citing undisclosed reasons.
Financial crunch lands waste disposal plan in cold storage
