Radioactive: PHC admits petition against defunct waste plant

Solid waste continues to be dumped, wasted

ABBOTABAD: Peshawar High Court’s divisional bench has agreed to hear the constitutional petition addressing the detrimental effects of a dysfunctional waste management plant on the ecology of Abbottabad on Friday, showing copies of the constitutional petition he had filed with the high court under Article 199, Advocate Zafar Iqbal said the government had spent Rs24 million on the installation of solid waste management plant near Salhad to dispose of and recycle solid waste.

However, despite completion of all formalities, the plant could not be made operational even after six years. The civic authorities were dumping and burning tonnes of solid waste on the side of Karakoram Highway near Salhad, robbing Abbottabad of its scenic beauty.

The need

Iqbal emphasised waste material exposed citizens to hazardous chemicals and restrictions should be placed on garbage dumping and burning. He also said the waste management plant should be made functional immediately.

According to Tehsil Management Authority (TMA), over 40 tonnes of solid waste is generated in Abbottabad. Four TMA trucks, four Cantonment Board Authority trucks, 3 trolleys, a mini truck and four Suzuki pickups transport the solid waste to Salhad’s dumping ground every day.

The bench comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Lal Jan Khattak admitted the petition and ordered a date to be fixed for its hearing.

In the past

Abbottabad’s district government (2001-2005) had acquired 40 kanals of land to install a solid waste recycling plant near Salhad. Shell Company agreed to share the cost of installation — Rs46 million — equally, but it allegedly backtracked, which delayed the project.

During 2009, the district government constructed the plant, but it remained closed as electric power supply remained unavailable.

Even though TMA succeeded in getting a power transformer and electricity meter installed in 2012, the plant has remained non-functional as no maintenance was carried out.    

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2015.