Heaps of garbage are a common sight along the streets in most areas of the provincial capital where more than 15000 tonnes of litter has accumulated during the past week.
The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) appears to be struggling to bring the garbage collection and disposal system back on track after the reopening of the roads following blockade due to protests. Meanwhile, the citizens in the affected areas are complaining of stench and health risks from the rotting garbage.
The exit routes of the city were closed at various points, affecting the daily routine, including the garbage collection system.
The traffic returned to routine but the waste management system is still struggling. The big containers placed on the corners are overflowing and have not been cleaned, due to which garbage heaps is a common sight.
Similarly, the 20 garbage transfer stations are heaped with waste. As per an estimate, the city is littered with about 20,000 tonnes of garbage. However, only 5,500 tonnes garbage is being collected daily, while the remaining emits foul smell and rots.
Read more: ‘LWMC to achieve zerowaste target today’
Complaints in this regard are being reported in Samanabad, Gulshan Ravi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Chauburji, Shamnagar, Garden Town, Township, Jauhar Town, Garhi Shahu railway station, Ravi Road, Janazgah Begum Road, Islamia Park, Poonch Road, Sheerakot Chowk, Yateemkhana Chowk, Niaz Baig, Nawankot, Bilal Ganj Peer Makki Mohni Road, Nonariyan, Sodiyal, Mahajirabad, Farooqia Colony, Khuda Bux Road, Bastami Road and Jinnah Colony.
The non-collection of litter and garbage by the waste management company at the required pace is adding to the problems.
When contacted, the Lahore Waste Management Company spokesperson shared that the process of collecting garbage had resumed with the re-opening of the roads. The staff are preforming duties actively in three shifts daily and the backlog and garbage produced on daily basis will be collected completely in the next couple of days.
LWMC Chief Executive Officer Ali Imran said that the prevailing circumstances had marred the pace of cleanliness and ensuring sanitation arrangements amid a law and order situation is problematic. He further shared that the LWMC machinery could not be mobilised completely, thereby hampering clearance of various points of the city.
The CEO apologised to the citizens for the inconvenience caused due to hampering of the cleanliness drive.
He said the cleanliness operation would continue as per routine after the law and order situation in the city improved. The CEO appealed to the citizens to cooperate with the LWMC.
The LWMC is facing severe problems in transporting garbage to the dumping point due to lack of resources and machinery and complications caused by its differences with the former foreign contractors.
Despite taking over the city’s cleanliness operation five days back, the company could not complete the task. Garbage piles are present in a number of areas and residents complained of stench and filth in the streets.
The LWMC is facing a shortage of more than 400 vehicles and about 600 containers. The company is also facing problems in accessing the waste dumping point.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2021.
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