PHC orders removal of dumpsite near residential colony

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday ordered the Peshawar commissioner to relocate a dumpsite near the Officer Garden Colony on Warsak Road.

The PHC issued a five-page judgement written by Justice Shakeel Ahmad wherein the court ordered the removal of the dumpsite near the residential area as it spread diseases and caused environmental problems.

A division bench of Justice SM Atique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmad had heard the petition and issued the verdict.

The order said millions of deaths were taking place annually due to various diseases and environmental problems for want of an effective garbage disposal system.

Rab Nawaz Khan Advocate and other petitioners had filed the petition. They had taken the plea that they were the residents of the Officer Garden Colony situated on the Warsak Road, where the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar had set up a dumpsite. The petitioners said that dumping the garbage was not only spoiling the environment but also spreading diseases.

Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mehsud appeared before the court during the hearing into the case and assured the bench that steps would be taken to remove the dumping site from the locality.

The bench had remarked that more than five million people died in the country every year due to the spread of various diseases for want of an effective waste management system. The court had observed that an estimated 20 million tonnes of garbage generated annually in the country, which was increasing by 2.4 percent annually. The order said that all major cities, including Peshawar, lacked effective disposal of waste management systems.

The court said that lack of urban planning and ineffective infrastructure complicated the problem. The court said that lack of a proper waste management system, throwing dirt in the streets and burning garbage were harming human life, including the environment. The court ordered that the dumping site should be built with concrete structure having a boundary wall so that rain did not wash away the garbage. The court ordered the commissioner Peshawar to find an alternative place for solid waste management. The court directed the assistant director Litigation Environmental Protection Agency Mumtaz Ali to visit the Officer Garden Colony and submit a report.