CDA, IMC eye Sangjani as dump site

Proposal to establish a solid waste plant to regenerate the waste into energy pending

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) have proposed a new site to dump 700 metric tonnes of the capital city’s daily garbage near Sangjani Margalla Hills. Sanitation Director, Sardar Khan Zimri said that the civic body has acquired 100 acres land from the forest department of Punjab to establish a proper landfill site which is a lingering issue for the CDA.

The sanitation director said at the moment, the capital generates around 600 to 700 metric tonnes of solid waste on a daily basis which is dumped either at the temporary landfill in Sector I-12. He said there is a proposal to establish a solid waste plant at the site to regenerate the waste into energy. Much of this waste ends up in the streams and rivers and becomes a breeding ground for disease-carrying pathogens. It was also termed as the main reason for the outbreak of dengue cases in the rural areas of the capital last autumn.



In the late 1980s, the authority started dumping garbage in Sector H-12 and continued the practice till 2006, only to shift it to Sector H-11.The CDA then began dumping garbage in Sector I-14 in 2010. In 2011, another site in Sector I-12 was chosen. Meanwhile a nauseating smell arising from garbage heap at Korang Nullah along the expressway is a constant irritant for motorists using this busy road on a daily basis. Motorists are of the view that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and private housing societies on both sides of the expressway are equally responsible for the unhygienic situation because they do not have appropriate facilities to dispose of solid waste in an environment friendly manner.

Speaking to media, they said sanitary workers and garbage collectors from different localities dump the filth in the Korang Nullah which can block its water flow and cause flash flood during monsoon season. Locals said that no existing or upcoming housing society has a proper design or plan to construct a separate landfill site or incineration plant to dispose of solid waste produced on a daily basis. Ali Naqi, a government servant who commutes daily between Rawat and Islamabad using the expressway said he and his colleagues have developed the habit of covering their nose even sitting in the car with closed windows while passing through the nullah.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2018.