PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has been directed by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to purchase land in Shamshoto area before April 25 to solve the solid waste management problem, a local media outlet reported on Thursday.
Advocate Malik Masraf had filed a petition in the court challenging the dumping of solid waste, including medical waste close to a residential area in Hazarkhwani.
During the hearing, Justice Qaiser Rashid and Justice Syed Arshad Ali remarked that the problem was a serious issue and must be addressed by the government on a priority basis.
Peshawar Water and Sanitation Services Chief Executive Khan Zaid and Additional Advocate General Syed Sikandar Shah said that 600 canals of land was set to be acquired by the government for garbage dumping and that Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak is keenly interested in the matter. Moreover, Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act would be used for purchase and that the CM has directed minister Shah Farman to lead a committee to reach the goal.
Protests by local residents had forced the government to abandon plans for potential dumping sites at Urmer and Marymzai.
Next hearing for the case is set for April 25, by which date the government is directed to have acquired the land.
The petitioner presented photographs in the court, explaining that garbage dumping was a health hazard for residents and his family as surgical material was routinely dumped and dry waste set on fire. Other possible sites for waste dumping were rejected due to vested interests of a number of local MPA’s (Member of Provincial Assembly).
“The act of the respondents while dumping different surgical materials within the limits of Town-1, a thickly populated area, is against the law, Constitution, public health policies and universally recognised fundamental rights of the citizens,” said the petitioner.
