Garbage burning

According to the World Air Quality Report, Pakistan was the second-most polluted country in 2018. Karachi and Lahore are among the 10 cities in the world to have the most polluted air, with Lahore’s air quality index at 188 and Karachi’s at 182. These are dangerous levels. A report in this paper says at a garbage transfer station (GST) in Defence View residential area of Karachi more than 1,200 tonnes of waste are burned round the clock, making life miserable for those living in and around the locality. Defence View is next to the Defence Housing Authority, one of the upscale residential areas in Karachi. The GST is located in the Malir river bed.

According to area residents, the practice of garbage burning has been going on unabated for the past few years, and all their complaints against it have gone unheeded. Government officials supervising the unloading of garbage at the dumping site said they did not put the garbage on fire, and it was scavengers that did it. The area is under the jurisdiction of District Municipal Corporation-East. The DMC chairman says, “We have nothing to do with the dumping. The Sindh Solid Waste Management Board is creating the problem. We have written to higher authorities in the Sindh government, but no one has given us any tangible response.”

Experts say burning garbage is a criminal offence, and the relevant bodies must act to stop this harmful practice. Government officials are reportedly resorting to buck passing. One official explained that the fire might have been caused by rotting garbage, and in the process he made a startling disclosure that rotting garbage released methane gas. This gas even causes death. Garbage burning in river bed might also be aimed at land grabbing. Despite knowing full well that garbage burning produces carbon monoxide and other harmful gases, the authorities are turning a blind eye to the monstrous practice. The show goes on.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 29^th, 2020.

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