Four landfill trenches dug at Losar landfill site
The Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) has made preparations to dispose of an anticipated 9,000 tons of offal during three days of Eidul Azha.
The vacations of all workers have been stopped and 3,539 workers will perform round-the-clock duties in shifts from Tuesday evening till the third day of Eid on Friday.
RWMC will deploy 3,225 workers in Rawalpindi and Murree while 314 workers will be posted in Taxila, Kahuta, Kalar Syedan, and Gujar Khan. It will use 413 vehicles in the Eid cleanliness operation of which 348 will ply in Rawalpindi and Murree and 65 in other tehsils.
The corporation will establish 16 permanent and 37 mobile transfer stations while 12 permanent and 26 mobile transfer stations will be set up in different areas of Rawalpindi city where loaders and dumpers will be stationed.
Similarly, one permanent and 10 mobile transfer stations will be set up in Murree, Gujar Khan, Taxila, Kallar Syedan and Kahuta each.
RWMC will put up banners at all stations to guide citizens besides placing containers, compactors, tractors, trolleys and mini dumpers at mobile transfer stations. There will also be two pushcarts and four workers at 22 mass sacrificial sites in the district.
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Citizens will be provided biodegradable waste bags for dumping offal while work on the disposal site will continue round the clock. At least eight camps will be set up in collaboration with Al-Bayrak in Rawalpindi for registration of complaints and sensitising people. A camp will also be set up in every union council (UC) where citizens will be provided with biodegradable waste bags and pamphlets containing related information and complaint numbers.
The corporation will use limestone in abundant quantity to kill germs while rose water and phenyl solution will be used to wash mass sacrificial sites to eliminate odour.
RWMC Chairman Ajmal Sabir Raja chaired a meeting on Monday regarding the cleanliness plan. Operations Senior Manager Muhammad Hasnain said RWMC staff would start cleaning streets, bazaars, roads, Eidgahs and mosques a day before Eidul Azha under a zero-waste policy. He added that the cleanliness of graveyards will also be ensured during these days.
Hasnain said RWMC would distribute waste bags and pamphlets outside Eidgahs and mosques besides erecting banners in different locations and the corporation’s vehicles. Awareness messages will also be run through social media and mobile messages. He added the RMC’s control room will remain operative 24 hours for registration of complaints. The official said that the helpline would be monitored through the control room too.
He said RWMC will use loaders, mini dumpers, pickups, compactors, arm rolls, mechanical sweepers, water bowsers, road washers, tractor trolleys, and service vehicles for delivery of offal while pushcart will be used in narrow streets of the city. Designated compactors will transfer offal to transfer stations from different areas of the city. In addition, three mini dumpers and 10 workers will remain present on the route of Losar dumping station along with a mechanical washer and sweep each.
The official said four large trenches will be dug at Losar landfill site where two shovels and excavators each, three bulldozers, and a water tanker will be stationed.
He concluded by stating that RWMC anticipates it will be disposing of 9,000 tons of offal during Eidul Azha.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2021.