Mounds of garbage irk Pindiites

Rawalpindi:You may be flinging the garbage away from your home now, but chances are that it will be back at your doorstep bigger than ever. There seems to be no permanent solution in sight.

“The mounds of garbage on old airport Service Road are getting bigger and civic bodies do not know what to do with it. More will be dumped in the days to come and we will all soon be right in the midst of a festering nightmare,” says Shabbir Hussain. “With civic bodies having no real plan, an epidemic may be just around the corner. It is not just the ghastly sight and smell we worry about, the threat of the outbreak of epidemics looms large,” says Turab Ali.

“Surrounding localities generate alarming quantity of garbage every single day and the area is the worst hit with garbage not cleared for days. Leaking water pipes, and overflowing sewage compound the situation,” says Aziz Syed. “Vendors and customers are both at risk. That apart, citizens who eat out at nearby Saien Jee and Baoo Jee restaurants are also at risk,” adds Aziz. “This is an example of a flawed civic body. Why is something not being done to educate the populace? The garbage bins placed on the service road are not adequate. They overflow all the time,” says Samar Abbas.

Shujaat Ali, a resident of Dhoke Hafiz who regularly uses that road says, “The garbage has not been cleared for the past eight days. The service road connects many localities Fazal Town Phase-I, Dhoke Lilyal, Dhoke Hafiz, Shah Khalid Colony, Fazal Town Phase-II, Faisal Colony, Gulzar-e-Quaid, etc.” “The area is densely populated and highly commercialized. The garbage clearance is poor and mounds lie uncleaned for days on end,” says Hina Zaidi.

“There are many schools in the vicinity and schoolchildren are forced to walk on the garbage to get to their houses. The residents fear that they may contract some contagious disease with exposure to garbage,” says Shehbano. Since the garbage clearance is poor, house owners in the area complain that finding tenants has become difficult. Nobody wants to live here. “I have slashed down the rent and yet there are no takers for the vacant house,” says Ijazul Hassan.

“Residents continue to throw the garbage. They blame us for the garbage lying on the roads for no fault of ours. How many times are we supposed to pick it up? If we do not clear it from the houses, the residents lambast us,” says Mehboob Ali, a garbage collector, on the condition of anonymity. Naveed Naqvi says, “When I contacted civic body officials, they blamed the contractor. I have complained about the contractor several times. I have even written to them urging them to blacklist the contractor. I will follow it up with them again.”