Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran chief Tahirul Qadri’s call to end the long march was not the only shocking development, as protesters broke camp leaving Jinnah Avenue looking like a landfill with around a 100 tonne of garbage dumped in the capital.
Cabinet Division Secretary Nargis Sethi on Friday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to wage a clean-up war on the garbage heaps left by tens of thousands of protesters who had camped at D-Chowk and Jinnah Avenue. Talking to Pakistan Television (PTV), she said garbage had not been disposed of properly during the long march, and its venue looked filthy.
CDA Chairman Tahir Shahbaz had formed teams under the supervision of administration and environment members to complete the cleanliness operation within six hours.
Around 200 staff members of the Sanitation Directorate had reached the avenue in the morning with a fleet of 65 vehicles and necessary equipment.
The chairman said the CDA had successfully restored the city to its natural and beautiful condition. He said the CDA had reopened the roads for traffic, as commuters had been facing problems regarding movement.
A CDA official said the garbage contained plastic bottles, bags, wasted food, food packs, sticks and fruit peel.
Shahbaz said the CDA would contact traders to ask whether they needed the authority’s help regarding cleanliness, as the marchers had also camped on the pathways in markets. The marchers had caused damage to decorative plants, grass, grills and palm trees on both sides of the avenue.
He said the CDA would try to recover fallen plants by erecting supports, and later plant saplings would be planted to control the damage done. He said the CDA’s sprinkler system had been damaged as well, but they were being repaired on priority. An official said the CDA was in the process of estimating the loss incurred to infrastructure in the city. The authority had also allocated a dozen water tankers to cope with needs of the marchers.
