RAWALPINDI: Due to the lack of a proper waste management system in the civilian-populated areas of the Rawalpindi cantonment, the residents fear the spread of ‘dengue’ prior to the monsoon rains.

Unlike the areas close to the military installations or army housing schemes, the civilian localities give an ugly look because of the presence of garbage and waste materials.

As there are no specific locations of dustbins, the residents of different localities use the corners of streets, empty places and even the roadsides to throw their kitchen waste and other rubbish.

Though the cantonment board has employed sanitary workers for cleanliness of the streets, their number is not enough to cater to the needs of the areas.

Qamar Zaman, a resident of Azizabad, said people of his vicinity had turned the street into a dumping site. “The sanitary workers do not come to lift garbage and we have to pay to labourers to remove the waste.”

He said the residents had become habitual of throwing garbage in front of each other’s houses.

Ghulam Mustafa, of Ghaffar Kayani Road, said since the residents threw garbage on the roadside, it created problems for the passersby and the traffic.

The foul smell emanating from the garbage makes it difficult for the residents to breathe, adding the unhygienic environment had also become the breeding ground for dengue larva.

It may be mentioned that last year the newly-established Rawalpindi Waste Management Company of the city district government had offered to lift garbage from the cantonment areas but the authorities concerned did not allow it due to ‘security concerns’.

An official of the company told Dawn that the area within the cantonment was very large and its sanitation was in a pathetic condition. He said the cantonment authorities did not agree on a ‘joint venture’ for a waste management.

Sources said the sanitary workers were also doing private jobs and some of them were working at the houses of their officers.

When contacted, Faheem Zafar Khan, the cantonment executive officer, said he would place ‘dustbins’ in different areas to improve the waste management system.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2015

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