RAWALPINDI: As many as 118 out of the 179 union councils in Rawalpindi district have been made ‘zero waste’ areas, a meeting was told here on Friday.

Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) Chief Executive Officer Sajid Safdar told the meeting that 406 union councils out of the total 577 in Rawalpindi Division’s six districts had been made waste-free areas. Waste will be lifted timely from these UCs to avoid piling up of garbage.

The Divisional Coordination Committee meeting was chaired by Commissioner Aamir Khattak.

The deputy commissioners of Attock, Jhelum and Murree participated in the meeting through video link. The meeting was also attended by officials of Wasa, Civil Defence, excise and taxation and traffic police.

In a briefing by Wasa officials, it was stated that the number of water filtration plants in the Rawalpindi district was 151 and all of them were functional. They said 427 of the total 428 filtration plants in all the districts of the division were also fully functional. Officials of the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation said wall chalking was being removed and manhole had been covered in the city. Moreover, the process of installing streetlights is going on.

Briefing the meeting, officials of the health department said there had been a total of 29 dengue cases in the district this year. The number of dengue patients in the Rawalpindi division was 33.

The meeting was also told that monsoon emergency relief camps had been established at Liaquat Bagh Murree Road, Commercial Market, Sadiqabad, Mohammadi Chowk Khayaban-i-Sir Syed and Gawalmandi.

The commissioner said all departments should take practical steps to improve their performance.

In this regard, any negligence will not be tolerated. “Clean Punjab campaign is going on successfully. On the occasion of Eidul Azha and Muharram, especially on Ashura, RWMC workers made best arrangements,” he said.

He said the health department should ensure the implementation of the anti-dengue SOPs. A zero tolerance policy should be followed in this regard.

“It is rainy season. The administration has completed all arrangements in case of any emergency. Monsoon emergency relief camps have been established,” he said.

Meanwhile, at another meeting held to review development projects, the commissioner said approved schemes will be completed on time.

No delay will be tolerated in the completion of public welfare projects. He directed the concerned authorities to speed up the work on the schemes.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2024