CDA’s negligence: Garbage from banks of Korang River yet to be removed

Heaps of garbage pose a serious health risk to locals

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA), despite tall claims of its efforts to make the city clean, has yet to remove heaps of garbage lying along the banks of Korang River.

Nauseating smell produced by the garbage is a constant irritant for the residents and motorists who use the expressway on a daily basis.

The river near the expressway has become a garbage dumping site.

The concerned staff burns the garbage at the site, which is continuously polluting the environment.

Residents of the area blame both the CDA and the owners of the private housing societies located along the expressway for the situation.

The residents say that they do not have appropriated required facilities so that the waste is disposed of in an environment-friendly manner.

Residents and visitors to the area, while talking to the APP said that sanitary workers and garbage collectors from different localities dump garbage in the river, which at times block the flow of water and cause flash floods especially during the monsoon season.

Locals said that none of the existing or upcoming housing society had a proper design or plan to construct a separate landfill site or incineration plant to dispose of solid waste.

Ali Sultan, a government servant who commutes between Rawat and Islamabad using the expressway every day said he and his colleagues had to cover their noses while passing through the area.

He said that it was beyond their understanding as to why the department concerned was oblivious to the heaps of garbage.

Abdul Salam, a local, said that the garbage had become a source of diseases and should be immediately removed.

Malik Abid, who received his guests coming from abroad at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, said he felt ashamed when passing through the river along with the guests to reach his home in Kahuta.

Health experts say that such a huge pile of garbage can cause an outbreak of various serious diseases such as dengue and hepatitis.

A CDA official, when contacted, was not available to comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2016.