The capital city is beginning to stink thanks to its streams and nullahs that have become garbage dumping stations owing to negligence on the part of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
These nullahs were ones beautiful freshwater streams but as the time passed, slum dwellers and residents of nearby localities started throwing waste into them. Again, as there were no checks by CDA, people began to extend their private drains to these nullahs, discharging domestic waste into them.
No surprises for guessing life along these nullahs has become almost unbearable. Slum dwellers living along these nullahs not only have to bear the reek of dumped waste all day but they are also at the risk of becoming infected with dangerous diseases, since these nullahs are breeding grounds for various life-threatening viruses and bacteria.
Besides posing health hazards, these nullahs can wreak havoc on slum dwellers if they burst their banks during the current monsoon season.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Amanat Ali, a resident of G/7, said that the nullah located near Zero Point is filled with garbage and poses serious health hazards to the nearby residents, office goers and commuters. Fearing for the slum dwellers and himself, he said the nullah had been choked will types of garbage and can burst its banks in case there was heavy rain.
So revolting is the stink coming out from these nullahs that local residents often keep their windows closed despite prevailing muggy conditions that make rooms unbearably stuffy if not properly ventilated. “Seldom do we open our windows, but if we do open them, stench fills the house and so do mosquitoes,” says Jamil Nasir, who lives in F6/1, near one of these nullahs. He said once these nullahs were freshwater streams but garbage dumping had turned them into drains.
Health experts say that these nullahs contribute to a very high level of pollution and are a health risk leading to possible ailments relating to skin and lungs. They said malaria and typhoid are the common ailments which residents of surrounding areas were exposed to and they should take safety measures against them.
The Capital Development Authority is working on a project to restore the streams and nullahs flowing through the capital to their original condition in order to make them clean enough for drinking and irrigation purposes and turn them into picnic points where one can go swimming and fishing as well. As many as 18 nullahs flow through the capital, contributing significantly to polluting its environment. Local residents claim the project is progressing at a snail’s pace and will take years to complete.
The CDA chief said that CDA had constituted a task force in collaboration with Rotary Club to identify the causes leading to the contamination of streams in Islamabad. He said the major factor affecting the beauty and natural flow of the streams include discharge of sewage into streams from ‘katchi abadis’ and Navy and Air Force sectors.
