22,000 tons of garbage piled up in Quetta in 10 years cleared

Published July 17, 2014
No effort was made to dispose of the garbage during the past decade. — File photo
No effort was made to dispose of the garbage during the past decade. — File photo

QUETTA: About 22,000 tons of garbage piled during the past 10 years in the provincial capital has been lifted under the ‘one-time cleaning activity project’ under way for a few days.

Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, Administrator of the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation Arbab Jabbar Kasi said that no effort was made to dispose of the garbage during the past decade.

“The garbage was lifted from Sariab, Ghausabad, Chalo Bauri, Killi Qambrani, Joint road, Diba, Satellite Town, Sabzi Mandi, Double road, Toghi road, Nawan Killi, Airport road, Smuggli road, Sabzal road, Western Bypass, Eastern Bypass, Kashmirabad, Killi Geo, Killi Durrani, Shaldara, Ayub Stadium, Lehri Street and other areas of the city,” he said.

Cement road blocks replaced with garbage piles

He said the task was carried out jointly by sanitary workers of the corporation and private contractors. The activity could continue if the provincial government released more funds for the job, he added.

“The corporation has a capacity to lift 400 tons of garbage, while the city generates 1,000 tons daily,” he said.

Mr Kasi said the corporation had been facing an acute shortage of sanitary workers and funds.

Meanwhile, official sources told Dawn that of the 1,000 sanitary workers of the corporation about 400 were Muslim who usually refused to lift the garbage on the plea that it made their clothes ‘impure’.

The Muslim sanitary workers had been recruited by religious and nationalist political parties during the previous regimes.

It is learnt that they belonged to Chaman, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Muslim Bagh and other areas of the province and did not attend their duty in Quetta, but draw their salary regularly.

Of the remaining 600 workers, about 250 are deployed at official residences of the governor, the chief minister, the chief secretary, provincial ministers, secretaries and other senior officials.

Over 100 workers are deputed at cleansing machinery and vehicles of the corporation and only 250 to 300 carry out cleansing work in a city of three million people.

Published in Dawn, July 17th , 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....
Rigging claims
Updated 04 May, 2024

Rigging claims

The PTI’s allegations are not new; most elections in Pakistan have been controversial, and it is almost a given that results will be challenged by the losing side.
Gaza’s wasteland
04 May, 2024

Gaza’s wasteland

SINCE the start of hostilities on Oct 7, Israel has put in ceaseless efforts to depopulate Gaza, and make the Strip...
Housing scams
04 May, 2024

Housing scams

THE story of illegal housing schemes in Punjab is the story of greed, corruption and plunder. Major players in these...