KOHAT: About 60 per cent of construction work has been completed on the solid waste recycling plant that will dispose of 100 tonnes of garbage produced in Kohat daily and turn it into urea, officials say. The project will cost Rs180 million.

The disposal capacity of the plant is 500 tonnes a day on need basis. The plant would be made operational by 2017 at the proposed site of production. It could be upgraded to produce electricity, the officials said.

They said that the plant was being constructed in Mohammadzai union council at about six kilometres from the city in two phases and 80 kanals had already been acquired for it. The place of construction has been recommended by consultants after several surveys, the officials said.

They said that in the first phase the infrastructure work had been carried out at a cost of Rs80 million. In the second phase, required machinery would be installed after June 2016 at a cost of Rs100 million and it would be made operational by 2017, according to the consultants who made its feasibility report.

The plant will also produce urea, say officials

Kohat city and the cantonment generate about 150 tonnes of waste daily. It is estimated that by 2045 such waste would increase to 400 tonnes a day due to rapid increase in the city’s population.

The recycling plant would also produce urea and useful plastic products of common use. They said that this plant could be upgraded to produce electricity.

They said that on completion of the plant the cleanliness condition in the city would be improved to a great extent.

Residents say that dumping of domestic solid waste in streets is a common sight, as there is no concept of taking waste to dustbins. In such a situation, the recycling plant would prove to be a blessing in disguise for Kohat.

COMPLAINT AGAINST MPA: The principal of government girls degree college, KDA, here has approached the court of district and sessions judge against the SHO of KDA police station, Imran Khan, for not registering an FIR against MPA Ziaullah Bangash for interfering in official matters of the college.

The principal had taken the plea that the MPA along with his relatives and a bodyguard broke into the college on August 15 and demanded admission of some girls who were dropped due to less marks and expiry of forms submission date. Later, they also allegedly manhandled the staff.

She stated that the SHO was not registering the FIR, which forced her to get remedy from the court.

A few days ago the MPA and the staff clashed and later they filed complaints with the police against each other. When contacted, spokesman for the district police officer said that the applications were sent to the prosecution branch for its legal opinion, which concluded that legally no charges could be framed against the MPA.

HASHISH SEIZED: The police seized hashish and arrested three alleged smugglers entering Kohat through a mountainous route from Orakzai Agency on Wednesday.

A police party spotted three men coming to Kohat at Lal Mela, in Mohammadzai and asked them to stop for identification, but they allegedly started firing. Later, the police arrested Muneeb Khan, Mohammad Akbar and Ehtesham, residents of Mohammadzai, and allegedly recovered 10 kilogrammes of hashish from them.

The Mohammadzai police have registered a case against the accused.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

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