Contrary to the tall claims of the sanitation wing of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to keep Islamabad clean and green, the overflowing roadside garbage trolleys in every residential sector of the city are posing serious health hazards to the people. The federal capital, having an estimated population of 1.5 million, still lacks a comprehensive plan to manage its municipal, industrial and medical waste. Improper solid waste management is not only becoming a health hazard for the people but also badly affecting the city’s environment.
During a visit to the different parts of the city, Pakistan Today witnessed uncovered garbage containers overflowing with a huge quantity of garbage strewn around them. This negligence on the part of the CDA’s sanitation wing is creating serious cleanliness problems both in posh and less-developed sectors of Islamabad. The CDA’s sanitation wing, despite having a reasonable infrastructure and strength of around 2,000 men, is unable to ensure proper management of garbage carried by the trolleys. Islamabad is generating 500 to 600 metric tons of solid waste which is being dumped daily at the disposal site in H-10 Sector or burnt in the open. Most of the countries have banned this practice, said a CDA official. The CDA staff fails to ensure timely shifting of garbage and throws waste into nullahs, thus choking them and creating environmental problems, he added. The official observed the sanitation wing had received a number of complaints in this regard, especially from the residents of less-developed sectors, but the CDA high-ups paid no heed to their problems. He said on account of lack of planning, the garbage containers had been placed along the roads or at the greenbelts of the city.
A resident of G-9, Amna Ashfaq, told Pakistan Today that the garbage trolley placed in front of her house always overflowed as shopkeepers threw rotten fruit into it. She said that despite frequent requests made to the CDA, no action had been taken by the civic body to improve the situation. She was of the view that the CDA should arrange proper points for these containers and lift the waste on regular basis to avoid overflowing.
It was observed that most of the streams and nullahs in the city were full of waste, causing floods during monsoon.
CDA Deputy Director Public Relations Ramzan Sajid told Pakistan Today that the sanitation staff of the CDA lifted garbage on daily basis, but on Sundays the residents threw a huge quantity of garbage into these trolleys whereas they had less working force on Sundays. “The CDA staff not only shifts the garbage but also cleans the area around every garbage trolley,” he claimed.
