Rawalpindi
The poor system of solid waste management in a number of localities in the district is posing a great health threat to public by increasing chances of mosquitoes and flies breeding that may cause spread of a number of communicable diseases including dengue fever and malaria.
Heaps of garbage, rubbish dumps and unnecessary water accumulations can be witnessed in a number of areas particularly along rail-tracks and along a number of link roads in congested areas of town.
According to health experts, the rubbish dumps can serve as potential breeding sites for mosquitoes and flies that may cause spread of serious infectious diseases outbreak including dengue fever and malaria.
A number of streets in congested areas of the city particularly along both sides of Benazir Bhutto Road along with a number of link roads particularly in areas falling under jurisdiction of cantonment boards have countless points being served as garbage dumps in open. The waste management authorities do not collect garbage on daily basis from these points.
It seems as the concerned government authorities have nothing to do with clearing rubbish dumps from sites along rail tracks particularly from Marreer Chowk to Chaklala Railway Station. The heaps of garbage and feces along rail tracks may cause spread of a number of serious infections including typhoid, cholera, dysentery and malaria.
It is important that flies are recognized as carriers of easily communicable diseases. Flies collect pathogens on their legs and mouths when females lay eggs on decomposing organic matter such as feces, garbage and animal corpses. Flies carry diseases on their legs and the small hairs that cover their bodies. It takes only a matter of seconds for them to transfer these pathogens to food or touched surfaces.
Studies reveal that diseases carried by house flies include typhoid, cholera and dysentery. Other diseases carried by house flies include salmonella, anthrax and tuberculosis. House flies have also been known to transmit the eggs of parasitic worms.
Rawalpindi Waste Management Company though established a proper waste management system in city areas but still a number of congested localities in town including Dhoke Elahi Bux, Dhoke Khabba and areas along Raja Bazaar could not be cleared of rubbish dumps and garbage.
It is important that to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, the whole town is needed to be cleared of vectors causing these infections as vectors know no boundaries and infection can spread from one vicinity to the other.
Many health experts have repeatedly expressed to ‘The News’ that if population in one locality is hit by dengue fever or like infection, population in adjoining localities also becomes at risk of contracting the infection.
It is important that the population in this region of the country has faced the most severe outbreaks of dengue fever in last two years. Population in Rawalpindi faced the most severe outbreak of dengue fever in 2015 and population in rural areas of the federal capital was hit most severely by dengue fever in 2016.
Health experts say that if the concerned authorities fail in cleaning all localities in Rawal Town, Potohar Town and areas in cantonment boards from heaps of garbage and rubbish dumps, the population would be at risk of facing severe infections in coming days.