ISLAMABAD: The city managers have finalised two areas for setting up of a landfill site.

The proposals for both the sites will be presented at the upcoming meeting of the CDA board. Sources said it had been decided that the sanitation directorate would share details of the two sites with its consultant, Urban Unit Team.

The directorate will provide details of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and the clearance certificates for the sites to be established at Kuri and Dhoke Jando near Nicholson’s Monument.

It was also agreed that the consultant will share the cost of the geological and hydrological survey of the sites. It will also come up with details of proposed drone surveys for preparation of the feasibility reports.

Details about sites at Kuri and Dhoke Jando will be presented to CDA board soon

A committee headed by Deputy Director General (DDG) Planning Zafar Iqbal and comprising DDG Sanitation Rafia Haider, Director Sanitation Malik Atta, Director Regional Planning Faraz Malik and others also visited a site a few days ago. The board will be given a briefing on seven proposed sites with a focus on the said two.

It may be mentioned here that next month the Islamabad High Court will hear a case and the CDA is required to submit its reply about steps being taken for setting up a proper landfill site in the capital.

Currently, the CDA is disposing of solid waste at a dumping site owned by the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company at Losar, Chak Beli Khan in Rawalpindi.

Earlier, the civic agency used to dump garbage in the residential sector of I-12 and then attempted to shift the temporary landfill site to H-16.

However, the court directed the civic agency to shift it outside the residential areas. The court last year also directed the CDA to ensure that “no waste is dumped in temporary sites in residential areas in Islamabad with effect from 04-10-2022.”

Then the CDA moved towards Chak Beli area on a temporary basis.

However, now the civic agency is planning to have its own landfill site.

On the recommendations of an international consultant the CDA had selected a site at Kuri. An access road was also constructed to the site but all of a sudden, in 2011, the CDA and the environment body decided to shelve the project.

Some officials at that time had alleged that the CDA dropped the idea of setting up a landfill site in Kuri to appease owners of housing schemes.

Since then, the civic agency has been shifting the temporary landfill site from one place to another.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2023