ISLAMABAD: The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad’s (MCI) drive to clean nullahs in the city has entered its second phase.

MCI Director Sanitation Sardar Khan Zimri told this agency that nullahs in G-6 and G-7 were cleaned under the Clean and Green Pakistan initiative last week in collaboration with Comsats University. The campaign will now move to the F sectors, he said.

Mr Zimri said the sanitation directorate has involved local government representatives from their respective union councils to maximise public participation for the campaign’s success.

He said students from various universities as well as NGOs had approached the sanitation wing to help clean city nullahs.

Mr Zimri said people living on the edges of nullahs were a major source of pollution of those streams.

In response to a question, he said dumpsters of various sizes have been placed in slum areas and teams are educating residents on using these facilities to avoid littering in nullahs.

He said the MCI has submitted a proposal to impose a fine of Rs500 to Rs1,000 against littering, which he hoped would be approved soon.

He said this would help discourage the open dumping of solid waste in the capital.

To another question, Mr Zimri said water from streams could be made useful for domestic purposes, but the sewage treatment plant in I-9 receives just five million gallons per day (MGD).

He added that the plant has the capacity to filter 17 MGD of water, but poor and dilapidated pipelines hamper the smooth flow of water from these streams.

He said the proposal to maintain these pipelines has been submitted time and again but has not been approved because of the lack of funds.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2019