ISLAMABAD: Despite 55 years of the city’s existence, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has yet to set up a landfill site where the city’s waste can be disposed of properly.

The CDA, which has so far failed to select a landfill site, collects nearly 700 metric tons of waste, which is then dumped in the open in Sector I-12.

A senior CDA official said on Tuesday that the authority is currently working on a proposal to set up a landfill site on either Kalar Rawat Road or in the Kallar Syedan area.

However, neither of these areas fall within the authority’s jurisdiction, and are in Rawalpindi. Regarding this, the official said that talks are currently underway between the concerned authorities.

It is worth noting that the CDA has repeatedly planned to establish landfill sites for the city, but have yet to come forward with a permanent solution.

Last year, the Supreme Court also directed the CDA to formulate long-term composite solid waste management solutions, but to no avail. A year later, the authority continues to dump the city’s waste in I-12, an undeveloped residential sector.

“We are very serious about selecting a landfill site and various proposals are under considerations. We will come up with a proper solution very soon,” CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said. When asked about the use of I-12 as a dumping site, Sajid said it was a temporary arrangement.

“We are working on short and long-term garbage disposal solutions in line with modern scientific techniques,” he said, and added that the authority had planned to set up a landfill site at Kuri, but the plan did not materialise.

The establishment of a landfill site has been a lingering issue for the CDA. Officials from the authority told Dawn that so far, little effort has been made to resolve the issue. They added that almost 30 years ago, the CDA began dumping solid waste in H-12, and instead of searching for a permanent solution, had simply shifted the temporary disposal site from H-12 to H-11.

A few years later the site was shifted to sectors I-14 and I-12, and then in 2013 the authority selected sector D-12 but were ordered by the Supreme Court not to use D-12 as a dumping site.

Officials said that following the court’s directive, the authority once again shifted the site from D-12 to I-12.

Rural areas within the Islamabad Capital Territory’s (ICT) administrative control also have no garbage disposal site. Residents from areas like Bhara Kahu and Tarnol often simply dispose of garbage in empty plots.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2015

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