KARACHI: Karachi’s waste situation was in focus during a panel discussion, part of Aga Khan University’s Sixth Sense Forum lecture series, on Thursday.

‘What Rubbish’ looked into the garbage crisis faced by the city and how a citizen, an individual, can help reduce the problem and help make the environment more clean and green.

Pointing out that Pakistan, according to a survey, was 16th in a list of the largest waste producers in the world, Nausheen H. Anwar, associate professor, Urban Studies, Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts, Institute of Business Administration, said it was basically consumerism that was leading to all this wastage that we haven’t yet figured out what to do about.

“We keep our homes clean while dumping the rubbish outside. But who’s to pick up that rubbish? Why is this city so dirty? Have our lifestyles changed that we are generating tremendous amounts of waste? Why is there such a dilemma over rubbish here? Is the government failing us? Are the responsibilities of the union councils overlapping?” These were just some of the important questions raised by Nausheen.

She also pointed out that such kind of infrastructure failure where we can’t even clean up the waste piling up all around us can lead to violence. “It is situations like these that open up perverse markets such as tanker mafia, extortionists and other such rackets,” she said.

Farhan Anwar, a civil engineer and urban and regional planning expert, said that corporate social responsibility also needed to be extended to raising awareness about garbage disposal. “There is a need for initiatives embedding such ideas of dealing with trash. We need people to realise the financial incentives in garbage. Solid waste and garbage revolution can start right here with the people even if the government may be lax about it,” he said.

“The city government doesn’t even know what its role is but NGOs and civil society may help people find a connection between garbage and business prospects. There is entrepreneurship that can be developed there, waste energy plants that can be set up. It is a totally untested potential. It can start a snowball effect in the right direction. Change can also take place bottom-up. Everything can be converted into something good,” he added.

Ahmed Mian, an architect from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, reminded everyone of a system that is in place already. “We already have the raddi-paper wala. We are not capitalising on that kind of recycling. It is a kind of system that can be promoted into a lifestyle,” he said.

“This century is all about nature and reducing the carbon footprint,” he said while suggesting having recycling bins at home where waste such as plastic bottles, glass, paper and cardboard can be segregated.

“That is why, it is said: ‘garbage can, not garbage cannot’,” said Sameer Sadruddin, the moderator, summing up the discussion.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2016