People living near Pindi landfill face health risk

Waste management official says they intend to set up waste disposal facility at new landfill

RAWALPINDI: Residents living around Lohsar and Chakri areas of Rawalpindi district have to bear with the constant, unpleasant smell of a waste dump in the area where three city and cantonment institutions dump their waste.

Apart from the foul smell, the trash also poses a health and environmental risk for the residents, experts say.

Owing to the absence of a waste disposal plant and a formal landfill, around 1,200 tonnes of trash generated by the city every day is dumped in the Lohsar and Chakri areas along the Grand Trunk (GT) Road and its adjoining areas.



The Rawalpindi and Chaklala Cantonment Boards dump their trash near the Chhann and Renal areas.

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has rented 600 kanals of land as a landfill in Chhann, near Chakri Road while the Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) has rented 600 kanals in Renal. The waste management company in Rawalpindi dumps its waste near Lohsar.

Often, the trash is set alight which creates poisonous fumes and unpleasant smell in the area.

During the rainy season, runoffs from the landfill pollute nearby streams apart from contaminating the underground water.

In 2015, an Rs8 billion contract had been awarded to Turkish company Al-Bairaq to dump waste from Rawalpindi and neighbouring union councils at a landfill in Lohsar until 2021. However, the contract with the company did not include the installation of a waste disposal unit at the dumping site.

Previously, the city used to dump their waste in the Bhaata Ground in Dhok Gujra for around 60 years. It had caused severe health issues to the people living near it with children born in the area infected with several diseases.



With the landfill full and residents clamouring for shifting it, it was finally moved and the land was allocated for a housing society.

Environmentalists say that waste treatment plants are necessary at dumping sites or else it would create a massive problem in the future with not only remote areas but the city also facing danger from the toxins buried in the ground.

Waste Management Company Managing Director (MD) Dr Rizwan said that they are working on a new landfill for the city’s waste. The land for the site is spread over 2,497 kanals in Sahang near Gujjar Khan.

He added that the construction of a waste disposal plant is also part of the project plan.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2019.