Residents decry poor state of roads in cantonment areas
Dilapidated state leads to increased commute time, damage to vehicles
It is proven in the enquiry that poor material had been used in the road construction. PHOTO: WAQAS NAEEM
RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD:
The roads and streets in a number of cantonment areas are in need of repairs due to the negligence of elected representatives and Chaklala cantonment administration.
Most of the roads in a number of cantonment areas including Harley Street, Tahili Mohri, Norus Colony, Dheri Hasanabad etc. have become dilapidated, and now have large sized potholes, outraging the citizens who pay thousands of rupees under taxes.
The residents of different cantonment areas are facing extreme difficulties in travelling on these roads. Moreover, their commute time has increased and their vehicles have also suffered damaged.
Residents talked with The Express Tribune and said that thousands of people use these roads daily. There are several private schools located on Harley Street, due to which there is severe traffic congestion on a daily basis during school off timings.
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The locals noted that entry and exit roads of Harley Street have completely broken down despite being carpeted at least four times.
The citizens lamented that even the elected representatives have turned a blind eye on the issue.
Landfill site
In an age of advanced technologies to recycle garbage and generate energy, the federal capital still lacks a permanent landfill site to scientifically dump trash and ensure a clean environment.
For the last four decades, the civic agency had proposed several areas including Kuri landfill to permanently dump the garbage in the city, but the waste is still being dumped in a residential area of Sector I-12.
Last year, the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) had selected a location near Sangjani to set up the facility on a permanent basis due to its suitable topography, but it could not even initiate the construction work on the site due to official hiccups.
The IMC had forwarded the tender to competent authorities to hire eight private consultants to formulate Environment Assessment Impact (EAI) report on Sangjani but the report could not be processed due to its high cost, an official source in the corporation told the media.
The corporation, he said, would again open technical and financial bids for the purpose and hoped that the IMC would be able to float the tender after completing the formal process. After hiring experts, he said the consultants would have to prepare the EAI report within three months in order to get the approval of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency. The official said the consultants would carry out geo-tagging and drilling to evaluate the water table of the site.
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It would also be ensured that the underground water of the area was not polluted by dumping of around 750-800 metric tons of garbage and municipal solid waste per day.
He hoped that the construction work on the facility would be initiated by the end of this year.
To a query, the official said the land near Sangjani, spread over 70 acres, was selected due to its minimum hauling distance, suitable topography, distant from aircraft route for flight safety and socio-environmental factors.
To another question, he said the idea of waste-to-energy plant could not materialise as the solid waste of Islamabad contained moisture.
However, he said the department was considering other options to recycle the total generated trash.
About the Sector I-12's residents facing problems due to nauseating smell that emits from the overflowing landfill site of the area, the official said they had cleared all the land, especially along the IJP Road. He claimed that it had buried over 1,260,000 tons of garbage at temporary landfill site.
(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2019.
The roads and streets in a number of cantonment areas are in need of repairs due to the negligence of elected representatives and Chaklala cantonment administration.
Most of the roads in a number of cantonment areas including Harley Street, Tahili Mohri, Norus Colony, Dheri Hasanabad etc. have become dilapidated, and now have large sized potholes, outraging the citizens who pay thousands of rupees under taxes.
The residents of different cantonment areas are facing extreme difficulties in travelling on these roads. Moreover, their commute time has increased and their vehicles have also suffered damaged.
Residents talked with The Express Tribune and said that thousands of people use these roads daily. There are several private schools located on Harley Street, due to which there is severe traffic congestion on a daily basis during school off timings.
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The locals noted that entry and exit roads of Harley Street have completely broken down despite being carpeted at least four times.
The citizens lamented that even the elected representatives have turned a blind eye on the issue.
Landfill site
In an age of advanced technologies to recycle garbage and generate energy, the federal capital still lacks a permanent landfill site to scientifically dump trash and ensure a clean environment.
For the last four decades, the civic agency had proposed several areas including Kuri landfill to permanently dump the garbage in the city, but the waste is still being dumped in a residential area of Sector I-12.
Last year, the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) had selected a location near Sangjani to set up the facility on a permanent basis due to its suitable topography, but it could not even initiate the construction work on the site due to official hiccups.
The IMC had forwarded the tender to competent authorities to hire eight private consultants to formulate Environment Assessment Impact (EAI) report on Sangjani but the report could not be processed due to its high cost, an official source in the corporation told the media.
The corporation, he said, would again open technical and financial bids for the purpose and hoped that the IMC would be able to float the tender after completing the formal process. After hiring experts, he said the consultants would have to prepare the EAI report within three months in order to get the approval of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency. The official said the consultants would carry out geo-tagging and drilling to evaluate the water table of the site.
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It would also be ensured that the underground water of the area was not polluted by dumping of around 750-800 metric tons of garbage and municipal solid waste per day.
He hoped that the construction work on the facility would be initiated by the end of this year.
To a query, the official said the land near Sangjani, spread over 70 acres, was selected due to its minimum hauling distance, suitable topography, distant from aircraft route for flight safety and socio-environmental factors.
To another question, he said the idea of waste-to-energy plant could not materialise as the solid waste of Islamabad contained moisture.
However, he said the department was considering other options to recycle the total generated trash.
About the Sector I-12's residents facing problems due to nauseating smell that emits from the overflowing landfill site of the area, the official said they had cleared all the land, especially along the IJP Road. He claimed that it had buried over 1,260,000 tons of garbage at temporary landfill site.
(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2019.