MCI drains cleansing drive enters second phase

Islamabad : The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) public assisted drive to remove filth from nullahs has entered into second phase and tons of the filth has been lifted from different areas in the first phase.

During the last week, the cleanliness of nullahs under Clean and Green Pakistan initiative was carried out in collaboration with COMSATS University in G-6 and G-7 sectors, MCI Director Sanitation Sardar Khan Zimri said while talking to this agency. “Now, the campaign would move to F sectors,” he added.

Zimri said the Sanitation Directorate had involved local government representatives of respective Union Councils to ensure maximum public participation to make the campaign a complete success.

He said the students from various universities and non-governmental organizations had approached the sanitation wing to join MCI’s hands to ensure the cleaning city’s nullahs.

Zimri said the population living on the edges of nullahs was the major source of polluting those streams.

To a query, he said the formation had placed dumpsters of various sizes in the slum areas of Islamabad and its teams were educating the dwellers to use those facilities to avoid the littering in nullahs.

He said the MCI has submitted a proposal for imposing fine of Rs500 to 1,000 against littering and hoped it would be approved soon, adding that this initiative would help discourage open dumping of solid waste in the capital.

To another query, Zimri said the water of streams could be made useful for domestic purposes but the only Sewage Treatment Plant in sector I-9 was receiving only five million gallons per day.

He said the plant had an actual capacity of filtering seventeen million gallons daily but poor and dilapidated pipelines were hampering smooth and full flow of those streams.

The proposal for the maintenance of those pipelines had been submitted time and again but it could not be approved due to paucity of funds, he added.