The citizens of the provincial capital are forced to drink contaminated water because district authorities have constructed “unscientific” landfill sites at Mehmood Booti, posing a high risk to groundwater in the adjacent areas.
The landfill at Mehmood Booti is not properly covered with clay layer to avoid rain water penetration and when the rain falls on the solid waste, the amount of “leachate” entering the sub-surface water increases, contaminating the water.
Mahmood Booti is the only authorised dumping site owned by the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) and is located north of Bund Road. The site falls on the flood plains River Ravi, which flows at a distance of just 5km. The site is spread over an area of 32 hectare.
Solid waste collected from Aziz Bhatti Town, Shalimar Town, Data Town and a part of Gulberg Town and other major areas of the metropolitan is dumped at Mehmood Booti. The direction of flow of ground water in the study area is from North to South and the velocity of flow lie in range of 1-1.5 cm/day. As regards the characteristics of dumping site, it is pertinent to mention that it is neither a stable nor a controlled. Solid waste is presently being openly dumped and no measures are being exercised to control or treat the leachate.
The most common source of landfill leachate is rainwater filtering down through the landfill and aiding bacteria in the process of decomposition. The leachate may be virtually harmless or dangerously toxic, depending upon what is in the landfill. Typically, landfill leachate has high concentrations of nitrogen, iron, organic carbon, manganese, chloride and phenols. Other chemicals, including pesticides, solvents and heavy metals, may also be present.
As leachate liquid emerges from a landfill site, it is often black or yellow, with a strong acidic smell. This toxic slowly leak into the nearby environment, eventually mixing with the groundwater system.
The impact of leachate on groundwater and other water resources has attracted a lot of attention because of its overwhelming environmental significance. Leachate migration from wastes sites or landfills and the release of pollutants from sediments (under certain conditions) pose a high risk to groundwater resource if not adequately managed. Protection of groundwater is a major environmental issue.
According to the experts of municipal services, landfill leachate is the liquid that moves through or drains from a landfill. This liquid may either exist already in the landfill, or it may be created after rainwater mixes with the chemical waste.
Modern landfills are often designed to prevent liquid from leaching out and entering the environment; however, if not properly managed, the leachate is at risk for mixing with groundwater near the site, which can have dire effects.
According to the officials of the Environment Protection Department (EPD); “No landfill should be constructed within 100 m of a navigable river or stream. The distance may be reduced in some instances for no meandering rivers but a minimum of 30m should be maintained in all cases”
Officials added that the base of the landfill site should be cemented and there must be piping in the whole base so that the leachate can be easily taken out from the waste to prevent the groundwater from contaminated.
WHO WILL TAKE CARE OF THESE PROBLEMS IN LAHORE? WHEN THE WATER WILL BE OVER HEAD,THEN PERHAPS LOCAL,PROVINCIAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS TAKE ACTIONS.THIS IS WRONG AND RUBBISH POLICY.WHEN THE PROBLEMS STARTS,IMMEDIATELY ATTENTION MUST DIVERTED ON THE ISSUES.IN MOST OF THE LAHORE AREAS CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER MIXED WITH DIRTY AND SEWERAGE WATER IS SUPPLIED TO THE LAHORITIES.WHY THESE OFFICIALS ARE PLAYING WITH THE LIVES OF INNOCENT CITIZENS OF THIS CITY.IF AMERICAN OR FOREIGN AIDS DONATING AGENCIES RUSH TO HELP.AS OUR LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IS BLIND,DEAF AND HEARTLESS. in Sandha ,Bilal Gunj,
Rajgarh,Mohni road and many other localities are having this rubbish contaminated drinking water..When the CM WILL TAKE ACTIONS.
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