ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Friday decided to charge waste transportation cost from private housing societies, which are producing waste in bulk.

Besides, from now onward the civic agency would not issue No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to the societies without getting their solid waste management plan approved by the sanitation directorate.

The decision has been made by Capital Development Authority (CDA) board, which met here at the civic agency’s headquarters with chairman Anwarul Haq in the chair.

The board decided that all societies applying for registration would submit and get their solid waste management plan (SWMP) vet by directorate of Sanitation CDA, prior to registration.

Meanwhile, the board also decided that all existing registered societies shall submit their waste management planto sanitation directorate through planning wing of the CDA.

The board was also briefed that private housing societies and commercial entities and commercial and residential entities generating bulk waste, in fact, are responsible for transportation and disposal of other waste to the final landfill site of Losar dumping site.

But the board was told that in most of the cases the contractors hired by the said entities dump waste in open places like green belts and nullahs instead of transporting it to the transfer station or the landfill site.

The board was told by CDA that the situation not only put extra financial burden on directorate of sanitation but was also harmful for the environment, therefore, the societies must be charged for solid waste transportation.

To this board decided that all housing societies and commercial and residential entities, which are producing waste in bulk shall be integrated into the existing solid waste management system through registration.

The board also decided to charge “transportation cost of waste generated by these entities currently borne by the sanitation directorate shall be recovered from these entities.”

Sources said that the board also approved charges for 62 housing schemes in accordance with number of houses.

Meanwhile, the board also decided outsourcing contract of only bird aviary of Islamabad in the heart of Lakeview Park.

Upon completion of the previous contract, the CDA board decided to outsource the facility through competitive process. However, the board decided that existing contractor would be given first priority after the bidding process.

Spread over 3.8 acres in the heart of Lakeview Park, the aviary, with its over 4,000 birds from around 280 species, is the main attraction for visitors to the park.

The aviary holds pigeons, doves, pheasants, peacocks, swans, geese, ducks, ostriches, cranes, crown cranes and parrots. The green-winged macaw and white cockatoo are crowd favourites. The birds are kept in a massive cage, with living space so they can fly and walk comfortably, and visitors can roam around in the enclosure.

The project was initiated by the CDA, which outsourced it to a private firm for a period of five years once the facility had been developed. The operators of the aviary, which is also known as the Islamabad Bird Park, pay Rs2.5 million in rent every year to the CDA. The aviary was inaugurated in 2013, by then prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. There is also a pond inside the park, where birds can be seen swimming.

According to the animal caretakers, the facility receives over a thousand visitors every day, while the company’s website says around 1 million people visit the aviary every year. The board also formed a committee to look into the issue of rectifications of building control regulations 2020.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2024