Rawalpindi grapples with waste management crisis

City’s waste woes exasperate as exiting dumping site reaches capacity

RAWALPINDI:

Tonnes of daily waste in Rawalpindi is becoming a headache for the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) as a 585-kanal dumping site in Losar is running out of capacity and a new site comprising 1,251 kanals has not yet been established in the Sahang area of Gujar Khan.

However, the authorities expanded the scope of RWMC, which is responsible for the transfer of solid waste from Rawalpindi to the outside of the city, to the level of the division.

Sources told The Express Tribune that 1,251 kanals of the new dumping site could not be transferred to the RWMC as the Board of Revenue failed to transfer Rs80 million to the land owners. There was no progress beyond the presentation of the waste-to-energy project at the dumping site.

According to the details, the RWMC took over the task of transferring solid waste from the city after the seven-year contract worth Rs8 billion with the Turkish firm for the daily transfer of solid waste from the city of Rawalpindi concluded. 46 union councils of Rawalpindi city, including a few roller union councils, metro bus service stations and Murree have also been included in the ambit of the company. However, the Punjab government has decided to expand the sanitation system to the district level in big cities and to once again outsource the transfer of solid waste to the dumping site. An agreement has also been struck at the division level in this regard.

The Losar waste dumping site established in 2007 adjacent to GT Road is not only nearing the end of its capacity but is also causing worse air pollution and contamination of underground water, risking the lives of residents of adjacent residential settlements.

On the other hand, the Punjab government has already transferred Rs80m to the RWMC for acquiring land for the Sahanag dumping site. The BoR has yet to take possession of 1,251 kanals of land despite receiving Rs80 million from the company.

RWMC Chief Executive Officer Rana Sajid Safdar says that like the other 20 districts of Punjab, the scope of the sanitation system under the company in Rawalpindi district has been extended to the division and an agreement with the company has already been struck. “After the services and asset management agreement at the divisional level, as per the decision of the Punjab government, the process of outsourcing the sanitation system will be kicked off at the divisional level. For which it has been decided to invite open tender from expert companies,” he added.

Dr Hamid Iqbal, who is the senior manager of operations at the RWMC, says that the project of generating gas and electricity under waste-to-energy at the new dumping site of solid waste and disposing of waste without spreading pollution is one of the most expensive projects, however, if the project is approved, a regular research-based project could be started for the project having far-reaching effects.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2024.