Solid Waste Generation Up By 500 Tonnes

Solid waste generation up by 500 tonnes

* Parliamentary secretary for environment says city needs more solid waste plants

By Adnan Lodhi

LAHORE: The solid waste generated by Lahoris in one year has increased by 500 tonnes due to which not only air pollution has increased but its disposal has also become a major problem for the Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD).

SWMD district officer Dr Tufail Ahmed Siddiqui said the department had recorded 5,000 tonnes of solid waste on a daily basis last year.

He said this year this ratio had reached 5,500 tonnes. He said the department had improved its solid waste lifting procedure this year. He said heaps of garbage was the basic reason of air pollution and its disposal was becoming a serious problem with the increasing population.

He said four solid waste sites had been constructed around the city. He said a composite plant was set up in Mehmood Booti near Bund Road. The plant, he said, had been converting garbage in to fertiliser. He said 25 percent of the total city’s solid waste had been converted in to fertiliser so far.

He said 383 vehicles were collecting solid waste and besides this the SWMD had set up nine camps in various towns of Lahore. Other than those nine camps, he said, two emergency camps were operational round the clock. He said the city district government had planned to set up 500 solid waste sites in a year across the city.

Environment Department district officer Tariq Zaman Khan said the unplanned urbanisation was the basic reason of increasing garbage generation and air pollution. He said the Environment Department had launched a number of programmes to educate people about health and environment. He said the department in collaboration with the city government was using different techniques to dispose off the waste. He said the techniques employed by the city government were not environmental friendly as most of the garbage was being burnt resulting in emission of poisonous smoke.

The Environment Department’s Research Laboratory director Shagufta Shah said the Lahoris were not environmental friendly, as they were producing more solid waste. She said throwing the solid waste in open could leave bad effects on environment by generating gases.

Parliamentary secretary for environment Saadia Humayun said the department was planning to acquire land at various places for dumping solid waste. She said, “The city needs more solid waste plants like Mehmood Booti.” She said land for other solid waste plants had been acquired in Sunder and Kahna areas.

Posted by Yee Gim Ping