Islamabad not as tidy as it once used to be

ISLAMABAD: Stinking smell coming from heaps of garbage lying unattended on the roads, usually for days, is a common sight in Sector G-9/4.
The Sector G-9/4 is one of the busiest sectors of the city as it is located close to the Sunday Bazaar, Markaz G-9 and Peshawar Morr. It is also one of the oldest sectors of the city.
Residents claim that usually sweepers take garbage from their homes and throw it in front of any house. “The trolley arrives to collect the garbage after one or two weeks after repeated complaints to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Sanitation Department,” said Raheem Khan, a resident of the sector.
The residents say that after rains, the smell of the garbage becomes unbearable. “Even after several complaints by local residents, no one is coming to collect the garbage from our houses,” said Khan, pointing towards a heap at the roadside.
Unfortunately, the G-9 sectors aren’t the only ones that are being ignored. Moving on to G-10 and I-9, the situation appears to be all the more gloomy. Water and sanitation, rather lack of it, dilapidated roads and streets, faulty lampposts and a string of other problems continue to plague these sectors.
“At times, we feel as if we are not a part of Islamabad for the CDA does not seem to pay as much attention to our areas as it does to others,” said Moiz Hafeez of Sector G-10.
“For some reason, CDA’s attention has almost always been on giving Islamabad’s main roads and sectors a truly international look while ignoring altogether areas that happen to be away from places where the high and the mighty reside,” he said.
Although, officials insist the CDA is capable enough to cope with the challenges of an ever-expanding town, there is no evidence of that in several of the sectors which present a shabby look and mutely seem to question the claim of ‘Islamabad the Beautiful.’
“Islamabad is declared the second among the list of most beautiful capitals in the world. I think we need to preserve the beauty and greenery of Islamabad rather than spoiling it with mismanagement,” said Tayaba Khalil.
Residents believe that Islamabad’s residential sectors are turning dirty with even some of the posh localities now not as tidy as they once used to be. “It is not only the G-9 Sector. Garbage can be witnessed in every part of Islamabad other than the areas visited by high-ups,” said Fatima Shah, programme officer at an NGO.
Talking to The News, CDA Spokesperson Ramzan Sajid rejected the claim that garbage is not collected regularly. “Leaving aside a few areas where garbage is collected every alternate day, the collection is done on the daily basis both manually and through machines. Individual instances can be possible but overall sanitation is taken seriously at the CDA,” he added. Ramzan Sajid said that those who had any complaint could contact the CDA through its toll free number. “We react promptly to any such call,” he said.