Baby steps: Efforts of one man make all the difference

Polio-crippled Khyali Gul changes fate of not just himself but his entire locality

RAWALPINDI: It took polio-crippled, 65-year-old Khyali Gul to change Rahmatabad.

Two years ago, streets littered with heaps of garbage were a common site in his locality that raised concerns regarding sanitation. Gul, who was jobless back then, was approached by the Rawal Town sanitation department who offered to pay him monthly if he helped remove garbage from all the houses.

Collecting Rs150 to Rs200 from 100 houses in Rahmatabad not only made a huge difference to Gul’s life but also changed the face of the streets in the neighbourhood.

Owing to Gul’s efforts, the locality can now compete with posh areas of the garrison city in terms of cleanliness and proper disposal of solid waste.

Talking to The Express Tribune, residents claimed that two years back, the locality was completely different. “There were heaps of garbage littered on the streets and drains were usually clogged,” said Sajjad Azhar, a local.

He said the sanitation department of the cantonment board paid no heed to the repeated complaints. “The situation has improved since Gul started collecting the waste generated from our houses.”

“The cleaning workers would sweep the streets and open the drains but would leave the garbage behind which littered the streets again,” he added. He said Gul sweeps streets, clears drains and disposes the garbage at cantonment’s containers.

Gul, along with his three sons, collects solid waste of around 120 houses on a daily basis, sweeps the streets and cleans the drains once a week. He even drains out rain water accumulated on streets. Nawaz, an employee of the sanitation department, said it is binding on each house to pay monthly charges on time.

Gul was reluctant to share details of his job saying they may lead him to lose his job “This is the only source of income for my family. We take the garbage to the containers placed by the sanitation department at various places,” Gul said.

The sanitation staff has never visited the locality since Gul started his work. “He made our jobs easy. He disposes of the waste from where our trucks can easily transport it to its final destination,” said a sanitation staffer.

He complained that some households still litter the streets, saying “they won’t change their habit so I changed myself and picks the garbage from their houses too.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2014.