Covid-19 makes Islamabad ‘cleaner’

IMC officials say they have less garbage to pick up every day

ISLAMABAD: Even as businesses grapple with the different shades of lockdown - imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), one sector which has seen benefitted are the garbage pickers of the federal capital who have to shift far less solid waste than usual.

Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) Sanitation Director Sardar Khan Zimri said that garbage generation in the commercial areas of the federal has decreased by 40 to 50 per cent due to the restricted mobility of residents amidst the lockdown.

He said that before the pandemic, the commercial areas of the city generated an average of 100 tonnes of trash daily. But now, this has fallen to just 50 to 60 tonnes due to the restricted movement of residents and fewer businesses opening.

Citing the example of Karachi Company, which was recently sealed by the district administration due to a spike in Covid-19 cases in Sector G-9, before the lockdown the market produced 10 to 15 tonnes of solid waste daily. But this has fallen to almost nil after it was sealed.

"As per an estimate, our total garbage collection has also reduced from 600 tonnes to 500 tonnes due to selective lockdowns in the federal capital," he noted.

The reduced workload means that more than 200 sanitary workers of the IMC have been disengaged from the main commercial markets of the city, Zimri said.

These workers, the official elaborated, had been deputed in the villages where garbage collection was intermittent at best before the pandemic.

"The situation provides us an opportunity to launch an aggressive cleanliness campaign in Islamabad's urban and rural areas and to ensure a clean and green environment for the federal capital," he said.

Under the 'Clean and Green Islamabad Campaign', Zimri said the focus is on the cleansing of nullahs and storm drains, particularly to halt the outbreak of other epidemics such as dengue and malaria - both of which have ravaged the twin cities in the past.

"Our teams have also been visiting different sectors every weekend as part of a drive to sensitize the masses about cleanliness," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2020.