Heaps of garbage may cause spread of diseases

Rawalpindi: Rubbish dumps, heaps of garbage, and unnecessary water accumulations being witnessed in almost every nook and corner of the district may cause outbreaks of serious infectious diseases and health threats like dengue fever and malaria.

It is important that in almost all streets in congested localities of the city, one can witness a number of points being served as garbage dumps in the open while there are a number of points along link roads where one can find heaps of garbage even in the areas falling under the jurisdiction of cantonment boards. Almost all along the rail tracks passing through the town, one can see rubbish dumps. The waste management authorities, however, do not give due attention to the collection of garbage on daily basis from these points.

No one seems to be responsible for clearing rubbish dumps from sites along rail tracks particularly from Saddar to Chaklala Railway Station. The garbage and faeces along rail tracks may cause the spread of a number of serious infections including typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and malaria.

The city district government and the cantonment boards though have established a proper waste management system but residents in a number of localities particularly in congested areas of the town like Arya Mohalla, Dhoke Elahi Bux, Dhoke Khabba, and areas along Raja Bazaar have to suffer badly due to poor waste management.

Many health experts are of the view that vectors for infectious diseases including mosquitoes and flies know no boundaries and can move from one locality to the other and to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, it is a must to clear the whole town from potential breeding sites of the vectors.