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Saturday March 30, 2024

Garbage turns City into dumping ground

By Ali Raza
September 05, 2019

LAHORE: Failure in door-to-door collection by Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has turned many residential areas into mini waste dumping grounds as citizens have no other option except to throw the waste in open.

A visit to various city localities revealed that LWMC and its contractors are not doing door-to-door collection due to which residents are forced to throw the waste outside their homes or to pay monthly amounts to scavengers for waste collection. “The government is spending huge budget on cleanliness and waste collection while citizens are also paying scavengers for waste collection,” commented Shahid Imam, a senior citizen and resident of Township. He said this was a complete failure of LWMC’s management especially its operations wing, which is responsible to check the city as well as the performance of the contractors.

While visiting residential areas, one can find mounds of dirty plastic bags, filth and other garbage in open plots, on road sides as well as overflowing garbage bins, which are also one of the main causes of the blockage of drainage and sewer system. Even main roads in the city are no exemption and one can find heaps of garbage and filth there too.

If garbage is not lifted, it spreads in the area with air or starts rotting resulting in the increased pollution. Residents of many areas said their lives had become hell due to scattered garbage, overflowing waste bins and rotten ordure coming from such sites.

They said LWMC was solely responsible for this polluted atmosphere because as per rules the company has to lift all the garbage from the city and dispose of in a scientific manner, but it was not doing enough while the waste was dumped on roads and in empty plots.

Environment experts said scattered garbage on the city roads caused serious health problems. The stink and unhygienic atmosphere bothers commuters, especially pedestrians using footpaths along the roads. As garbage gets dried and changes into dust particles, it becomes part of the air as speeding vehicles move it. People inhale these particles and fall victim to various diseases.

This scribe contacted General Manager Operations Sohail Malik but he didn’t attend the call nor replied to messages. When contacted, LWMC Chairman Riaz Hameed said the company was lifting garbage in routine. Commenting on the pictures, sent to him by the scribe, he said that the manager concerned told him that the areas would be cleared in some time.

Meanwhile, LWMC issued a press release claiming that the company had finalised its plan to maintain overall cleanliness in the city by efficiently sweeping, collecting and transporting waste generated during the month of Muharram with special focus on religious sessions of mourning and procession routes.

Special directions have been issued by LWMC Managing Director Ajmal Bhatti to Turkish companies Albayrak and Ozpak for smooth execution of the plan especially for mechanical sweeping and washing of Imam Bargahs, cleaning of procession routes and surrounding areas of mourning sessions.

It said that officers and workers would remain on duty to facilitate public for addressing their complaints related to cleanliness and uniformed sanitary staff along with machinery would remain on duty on the procession routes on Ashura. Waste picking will be ensured as well. Record of staff attendance, in and out of vehicles and all operational activities will be maintained.

Moreover, General Manager Operations Sohail Anwar Malik, Deputy General Manager Operations Asif Iqbal along with other Managers, Deputy and Assistant Managers will monitor all cleanliness operations, it concluded.