RAWALPINDI, Oct 26: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has asked the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) not to allow the people to dump offal and waste along Benazir Bhutto Airport and air force installations.

The PAF officials during meeting with District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar on Thursday said that the offal and waste of animals attracted the birds which may cause air accidents.

Therefore, special arrangements should be made around the air bases and airports to protect the air traffic from accidents.

Besides contacting the local administration to ensure cleanliness around runways, the PAF authorities also sent SMS messages to the residents of the garrison city in this regard.

Soon after receiving the request of PAF, the CDGR formed special team who will lift the waste around the Benazir Bhutto International Airport and PAF installations. “We are working in coordination with the PAF authorities for the safety of flight service,” said District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar, while talking to Dawn.

He said that if people dumped offal or waste along the runway, the PAF officials would inform the CDGR and its sanitation department team would lift them immediately.

He said that three points -- Chakalala, Islamabad Expressway and Airport Road -- had been established around the airport for the collection of animal waste.

He said the sanitation workers would collect offal and animal waste from the house to house and dump them at these points from where they would be transferred to Losar landfill site.

Meanwhile, Executive District Officer Municipal Services Imtiaz Malik and District Officer Solid Waste Management Dr. Mazhar Azeem visited the areas around the airport to review the arrangements.

They also visited the complaint centre at Committee Chowk and saw the drill of sanitary workers.

District Officer Solid Waste Management Dr Mazhar Azeem told Dawn that the plan had been chalked out to lift sacrificial animals’ entrails during the three days of Eidul Azha and basic aim of the plan was to keep the city clean.

He said that the department of City District government has already cancelled Eid holidays of around 1,600 sanitary workers, officials, including officers of the sanitation department, to ensure cleanliness during Eid days.

He said that the city had been divided into four blocks. “The sanitation staff will work in three shifts and around 179 vehicles of the department will be in the field to keep streets and the roads clean”, he said adding the department had identified 180 spots in different areas of the city where the sanitary workers would throw animal waste from where and it would be transferred to Soan River and then to Losar landfill site.

He appealed to the general public not to throw animal waste on the roads as sanitary workers would pick up offal and animal waste from their houses.