No garbage collection: In rural areas, garbage just keeps on piling

Waste contaminating underground water, adding to contagious diseases.


Sehrish Wasif November 19, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Garbage garbage everywhere, not a garbage truck in sight. So goes the story in the rural areas of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The heaps of garbage there contribute to communicable diseases and environmental pollution.

Dr Qutbuddin Kakar, World Health Organisation Focal Person for Vector Control, said 90% of communicable diseases are caused due to an unhygienic environment and the majority of them are reported from rural areas.

“Due to lack of a solid waste management system, rural areas are the worst affected. Heaps of garbage have become breeding grounds for bacteria, viruses, flies and mosquitoes,” he said. “Last year, majority of the dengue fever cases in the capital were reported from rural areas, which itself is alarming.”

Moreover, many people set the garbage in their areas on fire, contributing to air pollution, he added. The smoke from burning garbage can result in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, he said.

Dr Kakar said garbage also pollutes the water as polythene bags and plastic block the sewage system and pollute underground water, increasing the risk of water-borne diseases.

Shopkeepers in Bhara Kahu said the pungent smell from the heaps of garbage on fire is “impossible to bear”. “We are only able to get rid of it when the media reports about it,” said Talha, a shopkeeper.

Asia Bibi, a resident of  Phulgran, said that her children aged four and eight get diarrhoea “very often” because of contaminated underground water. Abdullah, her husband, interjected, “There are no filtration plants in our area, so there is no other choice.”

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amir Ali Ahmed conceded that there is no system of garbage collection in the capital’s rural areas including Rawat, Humak, Sihala, Koral, Khana, Bhara Kahu, Phulgran, Malpur, Noorpur Shahan, Sohan and Golra.

Even though a solid waste management project for the area was approved 1.5 years ago, the Rs15 million allocated for it have not yet been released, DC Ahmed said.

“Without funds, we cannot do anything. However when the ICT receives any complaint, we try to address it by collecting funds from other departments, though this is not a permanent solution,” he added.

Three to four tractor trolleys will be used to collect garbage from rural areas once the project is implemented, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2012.

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