LAHORE: Following the directions of the Lahore High Court (LHC), Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), in a first, has imposed a fine of Rs100 to prevent littering at heritage sites, including the Lahore Fort.
As per the details, the officers of WCLA at Lahore Fort and Royal Trail have been assigned to look after the cleanliness of their respected areas and the authority has also started an aggressive campaign for the awareness of the residents of Walled City. School children have also been invited to participate in awareness walks and informative sessions.
“Littering inside the Lahore Fort and Royal Trail had been projecting a bad image in front of the tourists,” sources said, adding that despite the launching of a solid waste management project, WCLA was unable to control the cleanliness of the Royal Trail that included monuments like Shahi Hammam, Delhi Gate, Wazir Khan Chowk, Masjid Wazir Khan, Well of Dina Nath, Haveli Bej Nath, Haveli Dina Nath, Haveli of Mian Sultan, Chitta Gate, Mariam Zamani Masjid and Lahore Fort.
WCLA Marketing and Social Mobilisation Director Asif Zaheer informed Pakistan Today that they were running an in-house mechanism for solid waste management from Delhi Gate to Chowk Kotwali which will be extended to Lahore Fort through Masti Gate.
“We have put up warning boards on the main and sub-streets to aware the masses of the fine. Our solid waste supervisors are working around the clock to keep a check on the cleanliness mechanism of the streets and Lahore Fort. We have separate teams for the Royal Trail and Lahore Fort and now if you visit the place you will see a prominent difference in cleanliness.” He added that sessions were also being held to raise awareness among the residents of the area.
“Previously, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) was running the cleanliness mechanism for Royal Trail phase 1, which is from Delhi Gate to Chowk Purani Kotwali. Then we took the cleanliness mechanism in our own hands, for which we hired janitorial staff, supervisors and purchased the required machinery,” he said.
“Due to the narrowness of the streets, heavy machinery was of no use and for that purpose, we have given handcarts to the janitors who collect the garbage thrice a day and dump it at a site from where the garbage is taken to the main garbage collection site of LWMC,” Asif added.
He further said that the same mechanism had been adopted for the fort where the boards for fine on littering had been placed and tourist guides had also been asked to inform the tourists about it.
“We are taking all measures to keep this world heritage site clean and have directed the officers at the fort to keep the tourists informed in this regard.”
