TAXILA: Garbage is piling up, waste is reportedly being burnt in public and the very measures meant to combat smog appear to be floundering in the streets of Taxila.
Despite repeated directives from the higher authorities, municipal waste is being burnt openly in a busy area.
Residents and traders allege that irregular waste collection and inadequate supervision have allowed garbage to accumulate at various points. Instead of being removed and disposed of properly, waste is allegedly left unattended until it becomes a nuisance.
On one hand, departments are instructed to curb activities contributing to air pollution; on the other, municipal waste is allegedly being allowed to become fuel for open fires in populated areas.
“For a city known internationally for its archaeological heritage, the spectacle is more than a sanitation lapse.
It raises uncomfortable questions about who is actually monitoring the performance of Suthra Punjab workers, who is responsible for ensuring timely collection of waste and why official anti-smog instructions appear to have little impact on the ground” – said Munaza Peerzada, chairperson of a local NGO working in the environment and social sector.
Social activist Kalsoom Choudhry while commenting on the issue has said that the problem therefore goes beyond the presence of garbage itself.
It points towards the need to examine the entire chain of responsibility — from collection and transportation to disposal, worker attendance, route monitoring and supervisory inspections.
Citizens are asking for more than another cleanliness drive or a few photographs of workers in the field.
They want authorities to disclose how many workers have been assigned to Taxila, which areas each team is responsible for, how frequently waste is supposed to be collected, how attendance is verified and what action is taken when assigned duties are not performed.
The administration also needs to explain whether any official has been held responsible for open garbage burning and whether the contractor or agency responsible for sanitation has been issued notices or penalties for repeated failures.
For Taxila’s residents, the question is simple: if garbage can openly burn beneath a major overhead bridge while the government is simultaneously campaigning against smog, who is actually enforcing the rules? asked a resident Jameel Ahmed- a native of the area.
When contacted, the operations manager Suthra Punjab Taxila chapter Shehryar Khan has claimed that local traders burn the garbage of the bin instead of the company staff. About unattended garbage, he said that there is a lack of public sense as they throw garbage in the open instead of designated bins.
Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026
