Haphazard dumping of solid waste causing environmental hazards in Sahiwal

SAHIWAL: For the past two decades, the metropolitan corporation has been dumping the city’s solid waste near Jhal Road overhead bridge on the banks of the Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC). Sahiwal lacks a dedicated solid waste dumping site and Jhal Road area was selected randomly without any legal procedures.

Reports indicate that a total of 192 kanals and 105 kanals of land on both banks of the LBDC, the canal bed as well as Lahore-Khanewal railway track are used to dump 140 tonne solid waste daily.

Dr Riaz, the chief sanitary officer of the metropolitan corporation informed Dawn that 10m sq feet land had been covered with solid waste near the Jhal Road overhead bridge.

Sahiwal was elevated to the status of a division in 2008, transitioning from a municipal corporation to a metropolitan corporation. Despite this, the city still lacks a permanent dumping site for solid waste management.

140 tonne solid waste is being dumped daily on LBDC banks near Jhal Road

In the last three years, the city witnessed the execution of Rs1.8bm Asian Development Bank (ADB) project aimed at improving 50-year-old civic services under the Punjab Intermediate City Improvement and Investment Program (PICIIP). However, establishing a proper dumping site for the city’s solid waste remains a distant dream.

Asjad Khan, the city manager PICIIP, says that the ADB project there is a plan to purchase a site for dumping.

There are many public complaints about the massive daily dumping of solid waste that is causing soil degradation, canal water contamination, respiratory problems, air pollution, bad air quality and skin diseases among the surrounding population of Muhammadpura, Hazoori Bagh, Jhal Road, Bhutto Nagar, Ashiana Homes and parts of Muslim Bin Aqeel Colony. Occasional burning of solid waste by the corporation staff exacerbates the smoke pollution.

Speaking to Dawn anonymously, a public health official says the long-term accumulation of solid waste attracts pests such as rats, flies and mosquitoes, which are carriers of diseases like malaria, dengue, and leptospirosis. Additionally, decomposing organic waste produces harmful bacteria and pathogens that can contaminate canal water supplies and soil.

Dawn learnt from sources that the ADB social and environmental high-ups had raised concerns about the existing dumping site.

“They conveyed to the commissioner/head of divisional coordination committee that the existing site is creating environmental hazards and it is damaging air quality index of the city,” sources said.

Haji Mushtaq, a local resident, blames the corporation and district/divisional administration for showing little interest in the health of poor citizens living in the slum areas of Jhal Road.

Waqas Akram, municipal officer, acknowledged that dumping of solid waste at another site was a major problem in tackling environmental hazards.

Dawn learnt from sources that recently a joint visit by officials from the municipal corporation, irrigation department and revenue department was conducted to assess the condition of the landfill site.

Data shows that on the eastern side of the LBDC, from RD 326 to RD 329, a stretch of 3,000 feet with a width of 350 feet has been filled, containing a total of 6,562,500 cubic feet of solid waste dumped on an uneven surface. On the western side of the bridge, from RD 329 to RD 332, another 3,000 foot stretch with a width of 190 feet has been filled with 3,562,500 cubic feet of total solid waste.

Senior management of the corporation privately admits that cleaning the existing site is a significant challenge.

Sahiwal Commissioner Shoaib Iqbal told Dawn that the corporation had identified a new landfill site near Bunga Hayat but the land acquisition was delayed due to residents’ litigation.

He said that in the future, daily solid waste would not be disposed of near the Jhal Road but at the new dumping site. However, the question remains as to how the existing waste heaps at Jhal Road will be treated.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2024