Pindi's waste crisis deepens amid tax row
Workers of Lahore Waste Management Company busy in removing the garbage as Punjab government launched modern and organized system of cleanliness in the Provincial Capital City with the collaboration of Turk companies. PHOTO: APP
The Solid Waste Management Company (SWMC) has, in the first two months, utterly failed to collect the official refuse tax — ranging from Rs300 and Rs500 up to Rs5,000 — across Rawalpindi
Residents and shopkeepers alike have refused to pay the tax, leaving the city's sanitation system in a state of complete paralysis.
In the absence of effective municipal collection, sanitary workers — both men and womenhave begun demanding an additional Rs400 to Rs500 per household on top of the government's official charge of Rs300 to Rs500.
Households that decline to pay this unofficial fee no longer have their waste collected. As a result, more than half the city's population has started dumping rubbish in streets, vacant plots, and open spaces, turning Rawalpindi into what residents describe as a sprawling rubbish yard.
Sanitary workers maintain that their formal duty extends only to sweeping the streets and does not include collecting household waste. "If a household wants its rubbish removed, it must pay Rs500 per month," they say. This stance has led to heated disputes between residents and sanitary staff.
According to Malik Zaheer Awan, Chairman of the Citizen Action Committee, sanitation conditions in several areas are "extremely poor". He warned that if the situation is not addressed, a public sit-in will be staged this Friday outside the RWMC office.