The littering problem of federal city has moved ahead of just throwing paper cups in the streets or tossing wrappers out of vehicles as it is found that the CDA has been littering sectors after sectors.
The local residents forced the civic authority to shift the landfill site from Sector H-11, H-10 in 2010, G-11, and G-10 in July 2011 and I-15 in December 2011, CDA has found another temporary site in Sector I-12 for dumping municipal waste, including domestic and hazardous. Earlier the site was shifted to I-14 but the residents forced CDA to move the landfill out of this sector.
Environmentalists in the Ministry of Climate Change are worried about such activities that have unfavourable environment and health implications. According to a site supervisor, almost 50 to 60 trucks dump waste on the site after collecting them from homes and offices. Bulldozers compact the waste into heaps before pushing it into ditches that takes 7 to 10 days to fill. People and especially children gather around trucks and scavenge reusable items out of dust clouds.
The site is at the centre of settlements and is 300 to 400 metres wide on all sides where stench spread out over houses, a school, the PTCL exchange, the under-construction Pakistan Housing Authority apartments, British homes in I-13, I-11 fruit and vegetable market and the neighbouring residential area, National University of Science and Technology in H-12. A spokesperson of Ministry of Climate Change claimed that soon the environmental impacts will be visible and CDA will have to shift the site to another open area again.
An official in the environment sector of the CDA has told that they had found another site in I-17 to develop a proper landfill site and to dispose of solid waste. However, it will take a year or two, to complete the site for the said purpose.
CDA’s Director Urban Development Department said billions of dollars are spent worldwide for improving waste disposal and CDA also needs to work on this issue. However, he rejected the apprehension that leachage is injurious because it is injurious where the water table is high under the ground.
