No solution in sight!

Borrowing from the well-known, ironic quote, ‘water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink,’ we can turn it around to describe the garbage problem in the country – ‘garbage, garbage, everywhere and no solution in sight!’ Despite the notice taken by the highest court in the country that Karachi should be cleaned up, the authorities appear to be at a loss on what steps to take; civic authority entities blame each other and all the while tons of daily garbage from homes makes the problem worse and more difficult to get rid of.

Unfortunately, cities like Rawalpindi and Islamabad are slowly but steadily getting worse as far as the garbage problem is concerned. While the main roads are kept clean, side roads and alleyways are dumping grounds and huge piles of garbage are to be found in any space that is available.

To top all it makes you wonder who has the bright idea of putting up signs like the one in the picture – which is a new addition and that too in English – which no one bothers about and are a waste of money because the rubbish is just flung wherever there is a previous pile left by persons with no civic sense. It may be in a drain; outside your house or wherever they fancy. Whether the person carrying the bag is supposedly educated; a poorly paid home cleaner or the boys who go around from house to house collecting the daily rubbish for a monthly fee – all are guilty of making the situation worse. And, by the way, where is the ‘basket’ that the garbage is to be thrown in? All that be seen are broken pieces of concrete.

Instead of fast moving trains and fancy road transport, it would have been better if the country’s civic problems had been taken care of first on a priority basis as garbage; contaminated water etc. all affect the health of the citizens, leading to a rush at the hospitals which are also not capable of taking care of them.

What is desperately needed is more large vehicles for transporting the garbage to a faraway site; proper places for its disposal in all living areas and other steps to ensure proper disposal and a resolve to improve the situation otherwise all the other good work being done is not appreciated.