A few days after the Sindh government imposed a ban on dumping of household, industrial and hospital waste in the open, the Karachi police have started taking action against citizens for throwing garbage and registering cases against them.

Police arrested two suspects who allegedly threw garbage on a main road in Karachi's old city area, said Nabi Bux SHO Adil Khan.

The officer said two persons namely Abdul Qadir and Irfan were arrested and a first information report (FIR) was registered against them under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The case was registered on behalf of the state.

The arrested men were presented before a local court which released them on bail, said the SHO.

Khan said the action was taken after the provincial government recently imposed a ban on dumping of trash outside the home instead of at designated places and burning of garbage, which causes environmental pollution and health hazards.

Similar action against throwing garbage outside homes was also taken in Garden, Saudabad and Khawaja Ajmer Nagri areas.

The Sindh home department on recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed water commission had banned dumping of household, industrial, commercial and hospital waste in open spaces of residential and commercial areas.

The ban has been imposed in light of environmental and health hazards caused by the open disposal of waste.

The home department had authorised the SHO of concerned police stations to take action against the violators of the ban.

The Sindh government has been struggling to contain Karachi's garbage emergency for years. In neighbourhoods across the city mounds of garbage can be observed piling up everywhere.

There is no reliable data about the amount of solid waste the metropolis generates on a daily basis, though estimates suggest it runs into thousands of tonnes.

Much of the waste ends up in dumps, alleyways and open spaces where it remains for weeks if not longer, while some of it is burnt in bonfires that unleash a vile miasma that chokes the entire locality.