HYDERABAD, June 1: DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed has sought financial and technical assistance from the World Bank to supplement the district government’s efforts to resolve its multiple environmental problems which seriously threaten peoples’ health and cause deterioration of the infrastructure.

Mr Hussein was briefing a two-member World Bank team about the district’s steps for waste management. He said that the increasing solid, liquid and hospitals wastes without a proper mechanism in place for their disposal had posed grave danger to environment.

The World Bank team comprising Mr David Hanrahan, leading environmental infrastructure specialist for South Asian region and Mr Javaid Afzal, environment specialist based at Islamabad, met with the DCO and other district government officials on environmental assessment strategy and implementation of the National Environmental Plan (NEP).

The DCO said that the growing environmental problems had given rise to hepatitis-B and C patients and aggravated insanitation which caused the drainage system to chock now and then.

In addition, unplanned disposal of industrial waste, smoke emitting and noisy vehicles including rickshaws and traffic congestion were polluting the city’s air, he said.

He said that the district lacked a proper environment management set-up. Unfortunately “we do not have any environmental policy at gross-root level, it is functioning only at the federal and provincial level”, he said.

Mr Hussein said that the district was preparing an integrated plan with all the stakeholders for the disposal of solid and hospital waste in an efficient manner. A landfill site would be identified for the purpose outside the city, he added.

He said that under this plan the district had decided to buy 41 waste collecting vehicles, which would be provided to each union council of the district. Besides, the district was considering involving private sector to get desired results, he said.

The DCO said that any investment, financial or technical, by the World Bank in implementing the plan would be welcomed. The district would also seek help from the NOGs and CBOs already working in the field, he said.

He said that the district was considering installing incinerators and waste recycling plants in the city which required technical assistance.

Responding to a question, the DCO said that the district, faced with the problem of water-contamination caused by old and worn-out water supply lines, had launched mega development projects for laying water supply and sewerage system to provide filtered and safe drinking water to people within three years.