After passing of more than 50 days of 100 days cleaning campaign, garbage seen dumped on the main road of Nazimabad, Karachi. PHOTO: ONLINE
Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro of the Sindh High Court, who is heading the commission established in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order to probe allegations regarding non-provision of clean drinking water and deteriorating sanitation in Sindh, sought the plan by January 30.
At the outset of Thursday’s proceedings, the LG secretary filed a statement along with documents regarding extension/improvement of the urban drainage scheme in Jacobabad and regarding overstaffing and appointment of white collar sanitary workers in compliance with the court’s earlier orders.
To the commission’s query regarding disposal of solid waste, the secretary informed that a Chinese company had been awarded the contract to lift and dispose of solid waste from two districts of Karachi.
The solid waste management department’s managing-director said that 12,000 tons of garbage is produced in Karachi alone, while the relevant departments have the capacity of lifting only 9,000 tons of garbage.
The LG secretary said once the Chinese firm starts lifting the garbage the decision on expanding such service to other districts will be taken in the light of its performance.
Justice Kalhoro asked the secretary to file a detailed report, providing a solution to the problem of lifting solid waste across the province, including Karachi.
He sought time to file a report after consulting with his seniors to devise an immediate working plan to get rid of the solid waste. He was asked to file the plan by end of this month.
Manora Cantonment Board’s (MCB) chief executive officer, Syeda Imammah Ali, filed a statement declaring that the cantonment board obtains water from an outside source through a contractor. The board is also meeting its potable water requirement through a filtration plant established by it, she added.
Regarding the sewerage system, the officer said there were neither high-rise buildings nor industries in the area, therefore no industrial waste was being generated. She also made a statement before the commission that the population of the MCB is less than 50,000 and said half of its sewerage is being recycled and used for several purposes such as gardening.
Ali informed the commission that the remaining half of the sewerage is going directly into the sea but the board is planning to establish a treatment plant to treat the waste before dumping it.
The officer said drinking water was being supplied to the residents after processing it through the filtration plant. However, she admitted that water was not chlorinated at the facility.
The representatives of the Karachi, Clifton, Korangi and Faisal cantonment boards also filed their statements regarding the procedures being adopted by them before approving a plan for multi-storey and high-rise buildings in their territories to ensure availability of potable water and working drainage system. The commission took their statements on record.
The representatives said the cantonment boards approve the building plans only after the requisite no-objection certificates (NOCs) are issued by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). They also produced copies of such NOCs.
A representative for the Defence Housing Authority also filed a statement regarding the cantonment boards’ procedures for issuing building plans for high-rise and multi-storey buildings. The office-bearer said that none of the waterfront high-rise buildings have been occupied so far. He assured that the same will not be allowed unless community, municipal or utility services are installed there.
Meanwhile, some residents of Mehmoodabad, who filed applications to become interveners in the proceedings, said the KWSB authorities had accused them of having illegally encroached upon the land belonging to the treatment plant. They claimed they had been leased the subject land. The commission will hear their applications today.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2017.
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