IMC has yet to decide on a site to dump waste, finalise waste management. PHOTO: REUTERS
Furthermore, the city’s administration has been unable to decide on a mechanism to address the waste collection and cleanliness system in the capital.
Currently, approximately 600 metric tonnes of solid waste generated by the city’s residents on a daily basis is dumped either at the temporary landfill in Sector I-12 or at open, unattended sites in the rural areas.
Much of this waste ends up in streams and rivers and becomes a breeding ground for disease-carrying pathogens. A consequence of this, is the major outbreak of dengue cases in the rural areas of the capital this autumn.
Last year, a high-powered commission set up by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had expressed serious dissatisfaction over the way the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was handling disposal of solid waste in the capital.
Subsequently, in June 2015 the CDA identified two places in and around the capital to develop into landfill sites. One potential site was in Rawat and the other was in Kallar Syedan. The authority said it would select the site after the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study was completed.
However, after local government elections in November last year and subsequently transfer of CDA’s municipal services to the newly created Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) in 2016, the subject seems to have been put on back burner as the authority has failed to finalise a site for the landfill so far.
Sources in the IMC told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity that the administration was now eyeing new sites, one to the east of the capital and the to the west. However, no conclusive decision has been taken on the matter so far.
Woeful sanitation
Apart from resolving the matter of a landfill site, the CDA and IMC have also been unable to improve waste collection and sanitation.
Currently, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) only provides door-to-door waste collection service in Zone 1, which largely consists of the CDA-developed sectors. Waste management in zones 2, 3, 4 and 5 is unregulated.
“The sanitation staff goes door-to-door to collect municipal garbage, earlier it was done manually and now it is picked through special collection vehicles,” said IMC Sanitation Director Sardar Khan Zimri while speaking to The Express Tribune.
He added that sanitation staff collects waste from all CDA’s sectors, including I, H, G, F, Model Town, Humak, Chak Shehzad and Rawal Town. Further, they have also started collecting waste from Litrar Road, including Khanna and Swan since October.
However, the IMC is still deliberating on whether to outsource solid waste management or to keep it with them.
Recently, the IMC received a letter from a Chinese firm for management of solid waste but at a rate of $30 per tonne. Sources said that this company had recently been awarded a contract in Karachi. While the company has not provided the specifics of its offer, the IMC official said that the offer could be considered if it included waste collection, sweeping, washing of roads, transportation and disposing off.
Currently, IMC’s sanitation department carries out these services at a cost of $8 to 10 per tonne. IMC Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz has been reviewing plans to outsource solid waste management in Islamabad and had directed IMC officials to negotiate with a private solid waste management company, Albayrak.
Albayrak had been was contracted by the Punjab government for municipal waste management in Rawalpindi and had paid the company Rs800 million in advance only to transport and dump solid waste.
However, IMC officials said that in their negotiations, Albayrak had quoted exorbitant rates of $28 per tonne only to transport and dump waste while collection, sweeping and washing was not included.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2016.
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