Collective responsibility ignored for long

Rawalpindi
Improper waste disposal and lack of adequate management plan have been significant issues related to solid waste management in Pakistan. Inadequate collection and disposal of solid waste poses a serious health risk to the population and is an obvious cause of environmental degradation in most cities of the developing world and situation of Pakistan in general and Rawalpindi district in particular is not different.
Mixed solid waste is thrown away indiscriminately in the neighbourhood or if collected by a waste collector is disposed of at uncontrolled dump sites. This is the collective responsibility from a household level to sanitary staff and they both have to dispose of their garbage at proper disposal sites and don’t leave it in the open to create problems for the whole neighbourhood.
The spot in the picture is not a recognised dumping site like Rawat, but one of the busiest roads of the garrison city, Peshawar Road where main road as well as its service roads near Chur Chowk seems to be a dumping site itself.
Rawalpindi is one of the largest cities of the province and home to over 4.5 million people. The main components of urban solid waste management are faced with major crisis. Responsibilities for the collection, transport and disposal of household and commercial waste as well as street sweepings, lie with the municipal authorities. The areas around Chur Chowk fall under Rawalpindi Cantonment Board where the population is around 1 million and the Cantonment area produces about 500 to 600 tons of waste daily.
According to data available at Rawalpindi Cantonment Board website, the Sanitation Branch of RCB has a fleet of around 39 vehicles to cope with this challenge, which no doubt is a daunting one. The sanitary staff has 3 compactors, 3 trucks, 6 tractors, 1 tractor with blade, 6 tractors with trolleys, 4 loaders mechanical shovel, 2 mechanical sweepers, 7 Suzuki Pickups to lift the garbage and they can’t handle it all in one day due to shortage of staff and equipment. Sanitary workers are employed to sweep streets and are often hired by residents to provide a primary waste collection service. For few years private entrepreneurs mostly Afghan refugees have also entered into the field of waste collection, which is quite helpful as they have become a source of collecting garbage from households to ease the burden on sanitary staff of the municipal corporations.
But despite their efforts, different localities give an ugly look because of presence of garbage and waste materials. As there are no specific locations of dustbins, the residents of different localities use the corners of streets, empty places and even the roadsides to throw their kitchen waste and other rubbish. Sometimes this garbage is thrown into small drains completely choking them.
Though the cantonment board has employed sanitary workers for cleanliness of the streets, their number is not enough to cater to the needs of the areas. The responsibility also lies with residents of the localities to keep their surroundings clean. There is no denying the fact that the foul smell emanating from the garbage makes it difficult for the residents to breathe, whereas the dirt heaps also becomes breeding ground for dengue and other mosquitos’ larva.
The improper dumping of solid waste not only creates environmental problems but is also dangerous to human health as open dumping sites become nurseries for diseases and also a source of ground water contamination.
Haroon Abbas, a government employee, said that throwing garbage along a main road is a crime and action should be taken against those who dump waste here. He said that sanitary staff should also lift the garbage at earliest so that the people travelling on the main road and those living in the vicinity do not suffer.
Ali Nawaz, a student, said that the whole area was covered with stench coming from the garbage dump at the road. He said any delay in removing the garbage could lead to serious health hazards.
The residents of the Chur Chowk and its nearby localities have appealed to the concerned authorities to take serious notice of the situation and address the problem at the earliest possible time.