Over 200 Qingqi rickshaws to collect Karachi’s waste door to door

The Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) has purchased over 200 Qingqi rickshaws to launch a system of door-to-door collection of municipal waste from houses across Karachi.

Local Government and Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah announced this on Sunday while talking to the media as he visited different parts of the city to inspect the clean-up campaign being carried out by the SSWMB.

The minister said on the occasion that more Qingqi rickshaws would be purchased if the need were to arise for the SSWMB’s door-to-door clean-up system in the city. He said the SSWMB has been carrying out a special drive to collect and dispose of the municipal waste generated by the city. He added that a total of 145,000 tonnes of garbage was collected and disposed of at the city’s two landfill sites in the past week.

He also said that a separate solid waste management authority would be established for Karachi under the city’s development plan that is being implemented by the government. Shah said that around 89,000 tonnes of waste has been disposed of at the landfill site of Jam Chakro and the remaining 56,000 tonnes of trash at the Gond Pass landfill site under the clean-up campaign under way in the city.

He said that the two landfill sites of Karachi have been receiving around 9,000 tonnes of municipal waste almost on a daily basis. He also said that daily attendance of the municipal and sanitary workers is being ensured for their participation in the ongoing cleanliness drive in the city.

The minister said that both manual and mechanical means are being used in the localities of the Malir, South, East and West districts of the city to carry out the clean-up drive. He welcomed the gesture of Wasim Akram for the improvement of the civic affairs of Karachi, saying that the former Pakistan cricket captain should come and work with them for the city’s development.

Shah said the government should take care of the basic necessities of life of the public, including electricity, gas, water and wheat flour, with the assurance of the best quality and price.

On Saturday the District South administration, in collaboration with the Student Help Association, had launched a campaign to clean up the Clifton beach. Activist Shaniera Akram, wife of cricket legend Wasim Akram, had especially participated in the drive along with South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Ali Sodhar and others.

According to a statement issued by the South District Municipal Corporation (DMC), the DMC had provided logistic support and machinery for the campaign. Speaking on the occasion, Sodhar said that cleanliness of the Clifton beach would be maintained on a regular and permanent basis.