ISLAMABAD: Allotted plots as compensation for land acquired for the development of the capital, the future residents of I-12 may face health hazards caused by the burying of untreated municipal waste in the undeveloped residential area by the city’s administration.

Landowners are entitled to get alternative plots as compensation for their land acquired by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for developing a sector. Thousands of plots had been carved out in I-12, most of which have been sold by the original owners.

The CDA, which is supposed to develop I-12, has itself turned the sector into a dumping ground and so far disposed of millions of tons of untreated garbage there. Experts say this could become a health hazard besides also contaminating groundwater resources.

Since 2011-12, the CDA has been disposed more than 500 tons of garbage in the sector on a daily basis.

Since 2011-12, the city’s administration has disposed of 500 tons of garbage in the sector on a daily basis

“Underground water could become a source of several diseases if someone is dumping contaminated garbage in a residential area. This practice could leave serious health issues,” said Dr Waseem Khawaja of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

Environmentalist Prof Dr Mohammad Irfan, who teaches at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), said when it rains the water at the dumping site percolates and contaminates the groundwater.

He said the practice of dumping garbage in the sector was also a violation of the Environment Protection Act 1997.

Before the formation the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), the CDA was supposed to collect and dispose of municipal waste. In 2016 when the MCI was formed, the directorate of sanitation was devolved to it and the municipality continued the practice of dumping garbage in the sector.

When contacted, MCIDirector Sanitation Sardar Khan Zimri said 500 tons of garbage was being disposed of in the sector daily. Asked about the contamination of groundwater resources, he said: “We are compressing the waste with bulldozers there. The dumping site is located in the commercial area, not in the residential area of the sector. But we are making efforts to shift the site somewhere else.”

Asked about the effects of the practice when people would start using the groundwater, he claimed: “We will shift this site somewhere else as efforts are being made to identify a new site.”

However, the official said, hospital waste was not being dumped in the sector.

Mohammad Imran, who bought a plot in the sector last year, said the dumping of garbage in the area was a violation of the fundamental rights of plot owners.

About the claim of the civic agency that garbage was being dumped only in the commercial area, he said: “This is nonsense, it does not matter whether the waste is being dumped in the commercial or residential area it badly affects the quality of underground water in the entire area.”

He said when the CDA develops the sector, there will be health, environment and construction issues for the residents. Because of the landfill site, the CDA is also avoiding developing the sector, he claimed.

The CDA and MCI have yet to finalise a proper landfill site in the capital. In May this year, the then member planning of the CDA Asad Kayani had identified a site at Sangjani near the Margalla Hills but no progress was made on it.

“The site in question is filled to its capacity and we are facing difficulty in disposing of garbage. I have taken up this issue several times with the CDA authorities for allotting a land in any other area, including Sangjani,” said the MCI’s director sanitation.

The civic authority has earmarked Rs100 million for the landfill site project in its 2018-19 fiscal year budget, but it has yet to begin work as the site has not been finalised.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2018