LAHORE: The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) claimed to have collected 130,000 tonnes of solid waste from different parts of the city and disposed it off at Mahmood Booti landfill at the conclusion of the month-long“Suthra Punjab campaign“ launched on the chief minister’s order. The solid water, included 25,000 tonnes collected from nearly 400 open spaces, according to the LWMC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Babar Sahib Din.

The CEO told the media the LWMC teams also scraped greenbelts and other open areas, besides removal of construction debris from 245 points in the city.

He said the mechanical sweeping of 16,000km and mechanical washing of 1,100km of roads was also completed in the month-long campaign.

He said 432 challans were issued for breaching the Local Government Act, resulting in fines exceeding Rs900,000, while 77 FIRs were lodged and over 300 complaints were addressed regarding illegal dumping of waste, during the drive.

“At least 268 out of 274 union councils in Lahore have achieved zero waste status in the campaign,” the CEO claimed.

“We urge citizens to support the ongoing cleaning endeavors and report cleanliness-related concerns via LWMC helpline 1139 or social media platforms,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, the LWMC team on the last day of the drive focused on all 21 rural UCs in Lahore. Additionally, mechanical work remained in progress in Seraj Park, Paracha Colony, and Saeed Park in Shahdara and Nishtar Town. Special attention was given to the areas like Kamahan, Atari Saroba, Youhanabad, Dulo Khurd, and Ashiana Road.

“Mechanical sweeping work was also carried out in Bagrian, Township, and Green Town to further enhance cleanliness standards” he said.

SNGPL: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) teams on Sunday disconnected another 182 connections, imposing Rs10.7 million fine for gas pilferage and other illegalities. According to a spokesman, in Lahore, the regional team disconnected two connections on illegal use of gas while another three for use of compressor.

In Multan, four connections were disconnected over illegal use of gas, while another nine for use of compressor.

The SNGPL teams disconnected one connection in Sahiwal, four in Gujrat, one in Faisalabad, nine in Bahawalpur, and two in Gujranwala, for illegal use of gas.

The teams also imposed total Rs0.08 million fine against the gas pilfers.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2024