Lack of proper waste management leaves Lahore filthy 

LAHORE: A dumping site of the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) is said to be one of the 24 sites that is currently being used as a temporary dumping point for garbage before it is eventually disposed of on the outskirts of Lahore city.

The temporary dumping point, which is supposed to be cleared out on a daily basis, has been left unattended by the authorities for the last several weeks since the cleanliness operation has slowed down in Punjab’s capital city.

The sanitary situation in Lahore has deteriorated to a considerable level, with the garbage scattered across the streets, making it nearly impossible for citizens to pass through due to the stench.

In addition to solid waste, the roads of Lahore — covered with construction waste and dust — are proving detrimental for the environment as well as the health of citizens. The cloud of dust often seen hanging over the city owes much of its existence to the dirty roads of the largest city of the province.

A study conducted by the Pakistan Meteorological Department has found that a staggering 70 per cent of suspended particulate matter (SPM, or fine dust) comes from the roads of Lahore.

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The phenomena, called dust re-suspension, is mostly caused when the vehicles plying on the particle-laden roads lead to a heavy dispersal of SPM in the air. While it was previously believed that high levels of SPM in Lahore, the chief cause of smog, were caused by construction sites, a recent study has revealed that particles in the air are mainly coming from the dirty roads.

People’s health at risk

For example Arif, a 51-year-old man who runs a small teashop at a busy intersection at the main Canal Bank Road, suffers from heavy wheezing due to the dust in the air, but says he cannot afford to even think of moving elsewhere for business.

“This is my livelihood, I have to bear the dire consequences of the pollution”, said Arif. Many others like Arif, whose livelihoods are tied to the shops located at the roadside, say they do not have a choice.

Dr Riaz Ahmad, an ENT specialist at the Lahore General Hospital, has said that about 95 per cent of the patients that he had been treating over the last 10 days are sufferers of foul air.

Earlier, two Turkish companies were given the task to clean the roads mechanically, Ozpak and Albayrak.

However, the foreign waste management companies have stopped the cleaning work. Since then, heavy dust swirling on the roads of Lahore can be seen.

The city roads that are the hubs of economic activity have now turned into cradles of pollution. Businesses have been affected due to the piles of garbage and citizens have expressed anger over the seemingly negligent behaviour of the authorities as trash is not being picked up from the streets and localities for the last many days.

Citizens’ anger

“I have lost half of my customers due to the pollution,” said Meher Din who manages a food stall outside a missionary school where just a few yards away lies a garbage dump.

The loads of garbage that have started piling up in many areas of Lahore city include Ichhra, Shah Jamal, Shadman, Nishtar Colony, Kahna, Garhi Shahu, Gulberg, Nicholson Road, Habibullah Road, Sanda, Samanabad, Allama Iqbal Town, Harbanspura, Mughalpura, Dharampura, Township, Green Town, Naz Town, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Krishna Nagar, Sham Nagar, Rajgarh, Sant Nagar and Bund Road.

A resident of the Gulshan-e-Ravi area, Inayet Khan, has said that garbage had not been cleared from his area since the last two weeks. “Garbage has not been removed by the authorities due to which the drums are filled up to their capacity, rather the garbage is spilling out of them,” he complained.

However, on the contrary, the LWMC has said some 5,000 tons of garbage is collected from the city on a daily basis.

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On the other hand, an official of the LWMC requesting anonymity has admitted that it was the responsibility of LWMC’s operations department to monitor the situation in the city. “The operations department has failed to deliver because of incompetent staff that is often reluctant to do its job”.

The Turkish companies Ozpak and Albayrak had been contracted to clean Lahore since 2012, and days before the termination of the contracts, the LWMC and the district administration seized the companies’ machinery and ended their contracts prematurely in December 2020.

The officials from the LWMC claim they are trying to provide exemplary cleanliness facilities to the citizens. Conversely, its poor performance has led to the piles of rubbish in the city currently.

Amid this tug-of-war, the residents of Lahore are knee-deep in squalor. The loads of filth have started piling up immediately after the termination of the contracts of the foreign companies.

With heavy smog choking the city, the residents are concerned about the undisposed solid waste.

The LWMC has been struggling to empty the trash cans that are on the streets and roads and for this, the waste management company is being grilled by the political and social circles.

In a recent statement, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has reiterated that provision of a clean environment to the citizens is the responsibility of the government.

There is obviously a dire need to take “game-changing” initiatives to clean the foul air, including intensive water sprinkling and a crackdown on spreading and burning of garbage as the eye-stinging smog has engulfed the entire city.

The government vows action time and again to battle the smog in the city, however, the general public is seeing the announcement as a mere face-saving rhetoric.

The writer is a freelance contributor